NASA helped create a robot that strips paint from ship hulls twice as fast as previous grit-blasting processes. Now known as the Envirobot, the system is remotely navigated, attaches itself magnetically, and uses high-power water jets to strip paint down to the steel surface. Wastewater and paint chips are then captured by a powerful vacuum system and filtered, ensuring no toxic residues pollute the environment.
A company entered a development agreement with Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Consortium (NREC) — which is partly funded by NASA — and the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to make the concept of a paint-stripping robot a reality. NREC built three successive models of the robot, tested them extensively, and participated in field trials of the technology.
Learn more about how NASA helped develop technology that impacts environmentally safe ship cleaning within your city's coastal environment!