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;
• 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;
• 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 unit;
• 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, wherein the bevel gear is rotatably supported by a supporting shaft and second supporting brackets,
• 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 unit 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 identify floating waste characteristics include recyclable waste and organic waste, and
• selectively actuate the driving unit to linearly reposition for operating either the conveyor unit to initiate the cleaning process, or the linear actuation unit to drive the scraping member across the conveyor unit for transferring the organic waste into the first storage chamber.