Beach-cleaning robot, volunteers help at Petoskey State Park

HARBOR SPRINGS — Members of the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council met on Monday morning to help clean up Petoskey State Park.

The council, along with partners from the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup (GLPC), TC Energy and Petoskey High School's robotics team, made their way to the state park beach to see a demonstration of how the BeBot beach-cleaning robot works.

More: Meet BeBot, the robot designed to keep Northern Michigan beaches clean

BeBot is a large robot that sifts through dry sand up to 4 inches deep, picking up plastic and other debris. The trash is then dumped onto a tarp and sorted through by hand.

The robot can get clogged when sifting through wet sand, so the drivers try to avoid it when possible.

The robot holds a charge for around three hours of use, and because it only goes 4 inches deep, it is less harmful to the ecosystem than a tractor, said Emmett Sisson, captain of the engineering and mechanical operations for the Petoskey Paladins. The team helps operate the robot, and they have been helping clean up beaches all across Northern Michigan.

The robot is driven back and forth up the beach in passes, to be as thorough as possible.

"It's kind of like mowing the lawn," Sisson said.

Sisson said the opportunity to work with BeBot, combining his love for robotics with his care for the environment, has been something he's had "an incredible time" with this summer.

"It's been an incredible summer," Sisson said. "There have been ups and downs, technical issues, but that's robotics."

Ally Walker, a programs officer for The Council of the Great Lakes Region which helps run the bi-national GLPC program, said there are five BeBots throughout the Great Lakes Region. The program was launched in 2020.

Walker said an estimated 22 million pounds of plastic are entering the Great Lakes annually, adding up to around 17,000 BeBots worth of plastic.

"It's been really cool getting to go to these different communities and see how each partner makes the project their own, as well as contributing to this larger network of data and community engagement and outreach, which is really cool," Walker said.

The BeBot has made its way to 27 beaches throughout the four Tip of the Mitt counties, and the watershed council has partnered with eight different municipalities to bring the BeBot to work on local beaches.

"We believe in the power to make a difference and we believe in people," said Jennifer McKay, chief policy and government affairs director for the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council.

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McKay said the watershed council was able to bring BeBot to Northern Michigan after working to get involved with the GLPC three years ago.

Following the BeBot demonstration, the watershed council, students and partner organizations helped with beach cleanup, with volunteers sorting through BeBot's loads of rocks and litter, while others walked along the beach with buckets and trash picking tools.

— Contact reporter Karly Graham at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN. 

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Beach-cleaning robot, volunteers help at Petoskey State Park