A machine that cleans the ocean, one dive at a time.
AquaGuardian is a concept project: an autonomous underwater robot that finds debris, brings it to the surface, and logs every kilo it removes. No gimmicks — just a tool that puts the sea back the way it was.
Read the mission01 — Mission
Why build a robot for this?
Most debris in the ocean never gets picked up. It sinks, it breaks into smaller pieces, and it stays there. Divers can reach shallow water; trawlers can reach deep water but damage the seabed while they are there. There is a gap between the two, and that gap is where AquaGuardian works.
The robot patrols a defined area, uses cameras and sonar to spot plastic and fishing gear, picks it up, and carries it to a collection point on the surface. Every item is photographed and logged, so the work is visible and measurable — not just a floating platform making promises.
This is a concept build. The numbers on this site are illustrative, but the engineering questions they point to are real: how a small robot stays underwater for weeks, how it tells debris from marine life, and how a fleet of them would coordinate without a human in the loop.
02 — Technology
Three systems, one job
The robot keeps the stack deliberately small. Every part earns its place or it gets cut.
Seeing
A camera for the close work and sonar for the murk. The onboard classifier only has to answer one question — debris or not — and it is trained on the kinds of trash that actually end up in the water: nets, crates, packaging.
Moving
Six thrusters and a control loop that holds position against the current. Power comes from a lithium pack topped up by a surface dock, so the robot never drags a tether or a charging cable through the reef.
Reporting
Every pickup is a data point: what it was, where it was found, how deep. The dashboard on this site is the reporting side — the same record a real deployment would publish.
03 — Impact
What the log says
The robot keeps a public record of its own work. Concept numbers, real structure: every figure below is the kind of value a deployed unit would report after a season.
05 — The team
The team behind AquaGuardian
Three students building a vision for cleaner oceans — one concept, one prototype, and one dive at a time. Meet the team →
Darmigan
Hands-on with the mechanical side — prototyping the collection mechanism and testing how it holds up in real water.
Sanjay
Builds the software behind the project — from this site to the logic that would guide an autonomous cleanup run.
Inba Arasan
Shapes how AquaGuardian looks and speaks — the visual identity, the story, and sharing the mission at every opportunity.
04 — Join the mission
JOIN THE MISSION
Be part of the movement to protect our oceans. Subscribe for updates on our progress, pilot programs, and ways to get involved.
We respect your privacy. Privacy Policy
Or reach us directly: