Autonomous water vehicle for collecting waste and algae from water bodies and method of operation

An autonomous water vehicle, comprising:

• a floating body configured to provide buoyancy, stability, and structural support on a water surface, wherein the floating body is adapted to operably support a plurality of propulsion wheels configured to generate directional translational movement of the autonomous water vehicle across the water surface;
• a driving unit movably mounted on a support member affixed to the floating body, wherein the driving unit is configured to operably connect to an actuator through an extendable shaft, wherein the driving unit is configured to be activated to rotate a drive gear,
• wherein the actuator is configured to extend or retract the extendable shaft to linearly translate the driving unit along the support member between a first position and a second position;
• a conveyor unit inclinedly mounted on a plurality of support rollers, wherein the conveyor unit is configured to collect and elevate floating waste from the water surface upon actuation while the autonomous water vehicle maneuvers across the water surface,
• wherein the plurality of support rollers is rotatably mounted on respective elongated shafts secured to the floating body and to a pair of extended columns, wherein the plurality of support rollers comprises:
• a first support roller rotatably connected to the drive gear via a gear unit, wherein the gear unit comprises:
• a compound gear operably connected to the drive gear, wherein the compound gear is a double-surfaced bevel gear;
• and
• a driven gear rotatably connected to the first support roller via a first elongated shaft, wherein the driven gear is configured to be rotated upon rotation of the compound gear;
• and
• a second support roller rotatably mounted on the pair of extended columns, wherein the second support roller is configured to be rotated upon rotation of the first support roller via a conveyor belt;
• a scraping assembly operably positioned on the floating body, wherein the scraping assembly is configured to perform a sorting operation for separating organic waste from the floating waste upon detection during a cleaning process, wherein the scraping assembly comprises:
• a scraping member movably positioned relative to the conveyor belt;
• a linear actuation unit mounted on the floating body, wherein the linear actuation unit is operably connected to the scraping member, and is configured to operably couple to the driving unit through a bevel gear when the driving unit is translated toward the linear actuation unit from the first position to the second position along the support member, wherein the bevel gear is rotatably supported by a supporting shaft and second supporting brackets, wherein the bevel gear is operably connected to the drive gear when the driving unit is at the second position such that the drive gear disengages from the compound gear of the gear unit and engages with the bevel gear,
• wherein activation of the linear actuation unit drives the scraping member in a linear reciprocating direction across the conveyor unit to push the organic waste from the conveyor belt into a first storage chamber mounted on the floating body, thereby performing the sorting operation;
• a first capturing unit mounted on a support frame affixed to the floating body, wherein the first capturing unit is configured to capture images of the water surface and detect the floating waste on the water surface;
• a second capturing unit mounted on the support frame, wherein the second capturing unit is configured to detect the organic waste present on the conveyor belt during the cleaning process;
• and
• a control unit operably disposed on the floating body, wherein the control unit is configured to communicate with the driving unit, the plurality of propulsion wheels, and the actuator,
• wherein the control unit is configured to:
• acquire image data from the first capturing unit and the second capturing unit, respectively,
• process the image data and perform threshold-based classification to classify the floating waste as recyclable waste or the organic waste, and
• selectively actuate the actuator to translate the driving unit to linearly reposition from the first position to the second position, or from the second position to the first position, for operating either the conveyor unit to initiate the cleaning process when the drive gear engages the compound gear at the first position, or the linear actuation unit to drive the scraping member across the conveyor belt for transferring the organic waste into the first storage chamber when the drive gear engages the bevel gear at the second position.