‘Sea creature’ minibot hoovers up oil spills

‘Sea creature’ minibot hoovers up oil spills

RMIT University engineers in Australia have built a remote-controlled minibot that hoovers up oil spills using an innovative filtering system inspired by sea urchins.

Oil spills are still a serious problem around the world. They can badly damage oceans and coasts, kill or injure sea animals and birds, and cost billions of dollars to clean up and repair the damage.

The team developed a minibot called the ‘Electronic Dolphin’ to address this global challenge, by collecting oil from the surface of water, offering a safer and more targeted way to respond to spills in sensitive environments.

A small white robotic minibot shaped like a dolphin moves across the surface of a clear water tank, using a front‑mounted nozzle to collect a trail of blue kerosene oil floating on the water. The robot has a rounded body with a transparent dome on top and RMIT University branding on its side. Researchers PhD researcher Surya Kanta Ghadei and Dr Ataur Rahman in an RMIT University engineering lab working on the sea‑urchin‑inspired oil‑spill filtering material. Credit: Peter Clarke, RMIT University

The device, shaped like a dolphin and about the size of a sneaker, integrates a specially designed filter that repels water while instantly absorbing oil, allowing the robot to skim slicks and collect oil with high efficiency.

A white, dolphin‑shaped robotic minibot with RMIT University branding sits on a dark surface. The device has a rounded body, a clear dome compartment on top, small side fins and a front nozzle used for drawing in oil during clean‑up tests. The RMIT team’s Electronic Dolphin minibot, a proof‑of‑concept device designed to skim oil from the surface of water, featuring a front‑mounted nozzle and compact dolphin‑like body. Credit: Peter Clarke, RMIT University

Lead researcher Dr Ataur Rahman, from RMIT’s School of Engineering, said the proof-of-concept minibot showed how small, adaptable platforms could support clean-up efforts without exposing responders to hazardous conditions.

“Oil spills can take a huge environmental and economic toll. We wanted to create a system that can be deployed quickly, steered accurately and used in areas that are too risky for people to access,” he said.

“We have a long-term vision of creating dolphin‑sized robots that can vacuum oil, return to base to empty their tanks, recharge, then redeploy automatically – repeating the cycle until the job’s done.”

A gloved hand holds a small coated filter piece with tweezers while a droplet of water beads on the surface, demonstrating the material’s water‑repellent behaviour. A researcher demonstrates the water‑repellent properties of the coated filter, showing water beading on the surface. Credit: Peter Clarke, RMIT University

The experimental minibot runs for about 15 minutes on its current battery, but the final version would scale up depending on pump size and oil‑storage capacity. 

“Unlike past oil cleanup materials that often use harsh, hazardous chemicals and work only as fixed filters involving manual operation, our new technology is made using an eco-friendly coating for filter we developed,” Rahman said.

A gloved researcher applies a droplet of oil onto the coated filter held by tweezers, showing the material absorbing oil without taking up water. A researcher applies oil to the coated filter material to demonstrate its rapid absorption while remaining water‑repellent. Credit: Peter Clarke, RMIT University

The minibot houses the coated filter at its front, with a small pump drawing oil through the filter into an onboard collection chamber. In controlled tests, it recovered oil at about 2 millilitres per minute with more than 95 per cent purity, maintaining performance without the filter becoming waterlogged.

The filter uses a special coating that grows tiny, sea urchin-like spikes you can only see under an electron microscope. These little spikes hold pockets of air that make water roll straight off, while oil sticks to the surface. That means the material can pick up oil without soaking up water, and because it is light and can be reused many times, it Is practical for real cleanup work.

A detailed macro image of a pale sea urchin shell, highlighting its circular opening and the textured surface made up of raised bumps and very fine spikes that form its natural pattern. A close-up view of a sea urchin shell, showing its surface covered in raised bumps and tiny spikes that inspired the RMIT team’s water‑repelling and oil-absorbing filter technology.

PhD researcher Surya Kanta Ghadei, who led much of the materials development, said the project was driven by both technical ambition and personal experience.

“Growing up in India, I saw the impact oil spills can have on marine life, especially turtles,” he said.

“That stayed with me. When I began my PhD, I wanted to create something that could help responders act faster and keep wildlife out of danger.”

A macro image of a small, porous grey filter sample showing its sponge‑like structure used for oil‑water separation research. A macro view of the porous, sea‑urchin‑inspired filter material developed for the Electronic Dolphin minibot. Credit: Peter Clarke, RMIT University

The team is now exploring how to scale the technology by increasing the filter area across the robot’s surface, which would require a higher capacity pump. Field testing and long-term durability assessments are planned as the next stage of development.

Rahman said the researchers were keen to work with industry or innovation partners to refine the design for specific applications and assess pathways for wider deployment.

Organisations interested in developing new products or collaborating further should contact RMIT at research.partnerships@rmit.edu.au

An oil‑covered pelican sits on a wet shoreline, its feathers heavily coated in dark residue. Small lumps of oil are scattered across the sand in the foreground, while gentle waves roll in behind the bird under muted, overcast light. Oil spills are still a serious problem around the world. They can badly damage oceans and coasts, kill or injure sea animals and birds, and cost billions of dollars to clean up and repair the damage. Credit: Adobe

‘Multifunctional superwetting sea urchin mimetic nanosheet based interface for remote oil–water separation’, is published in the high impact journal Small (DOI: 10.1002/smll.202512846).

A gloved hand holds a white dolphin‑shaped minibot over a clear tank of water. A cut‑out section on the side of the device shows an internal chamber containing blue kerosene oil collected during testing. The minibot features small black propellers and smooth, streamlined casing. An RMIT researcher holds the Electronic Dolphin minibot above a test tank, revealing the internal chamber partially filled with blue kerosene oil collected during clean‑up trials. Credit: Peter Clarke, RMIT University

The research builds on extensive materials and environmental engineering work conducted in the broader group led by Distinguished Professor Madhu Bhaskaran and Professor Sharath Sriram, whose teams have developed a range of technologies and platforms for other applications, and Professor Ramasamy Sakthivel from India’s Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research.


Story: Will Wright

10 March 2026

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10 March 2026

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