S.P.A.T

Solar Powered Aquatic Trashboat

Solar boat that cleans the middle of the lake

A remotely operated, solar-powered trashboat built to reach floating waste where people cannot walk.

The problem

Trash gathers where hands cannot reach

Lakes support ecosystems, farming, and community life—yet litter often floats far from shore. Traditional cleanup means walking the bank and waiting for currents to bring waste in. SPAT was built to go out onto the water instead.

Trash collected in SPAT’s blue net during a lake test

SPAT boat sailing on a lake with solar panel and collection net

The boat

PVC hull, solar charge, remote helm

SPAT uses a catamaran PVC hull, a 10 WP solar panel with charge controller, dual 775 DC motors, and a FlySky remote with action-cam view. A net between the pontoons scoops floating trash and carries it back to shore.

Results

Proven on the water

After electrical, buoyancy, navigation, and collection tests, SPAT floated a total load of 11 kg, sailed under remote control, and returned about 1 kg of trash per round from mid-lake.

Top speed with solar panel: 1.2 km/h
Remote control range: 150 m
Runtime without sunlight: 5 hours
Trash collected per round: ~1 kg

With solar power, energy cost is free. Charging from grid power instead would cost about $5.4 USD / Rp 78,000 per year.

Gallery

From workshop to maiden voyage

Author assembling the SPAT boat hull — Building the hull

Early SPAT prototype floating in a bathtub — Early prototype

Front view of finished SPAT boat with net and camera — Finished front view

Side view of SPAT boat showing solar panel and pontoons — Side view

SPAT boat during buoyancy testing on a lake — Buoyancy test

Solar panel and charge system on SPAT — Solar system

MOSTRATEC Brazil

Activities toward Novo Hamburgo, 2023

SPAT was presented at MOSTRATEC — Mostra Internacional de Ciência e Tecnologia — in Novo Hamburgo, Brazil (23–27 October 2023), under Mechanical Engineering — Vehicles Development, representing Indonesia.

MOSTRATEC 2023 exhibition poster for Solar Powered Aquatic Trashboat SPAT by Athazka Ray Tapjani

Official exhibition poster for MOSTRATEC Brazil 2023

Athazka Ray Tapjani presenting the SPAT project for MOSTRATEC 2023 — Presenting SPAT for MOSTRATEC 2023

Building the SPAT hull while preparing for MOSTRATEC — Preparing the hull

Finished SPAT boat ready for exhibition — Finished boat for the fair

Buoyancy test on the lake before MOSTRATEC Brazil — Pre-fair lake test

SPAT sailing during field validation — Field validation

Trash collected by SPAT during testing — Collection proof for the jury

MOSTRATEC 2023 project video — watch on YouTube.

Trip gallery

Photos of my trip to Mostratec Brazil 2023

Full album from the Mostratec journey — copied from the shared iCloud photo link so every frame from the Brazil trip lives on this site.

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Videos

Field tests from the paper

Documentation links from the final pages of the MOSTRATEC paper— buoyancy testing and the maiden lake cleanup voyages.

Paper

Read the full research text

The complete MOSTRATEC 2023 paper — Solar Powered Aquatic Trashboat / SPAT — by Athazka Ray Tapjani. Browse it below, open it in a new tab, or download the PDF.

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Project

MOSTRATEC 2023

Solar Powered Aquatic Trashboat / SPAT was presented at the International Science and Technology Exhibition MOSTRATEC 2023 in Brazil, under Mechanical Engineering — Vehicles Development.

Author Athazka Ray Tapjani, supervised by Resky Ervaldi Saputra, B.Sc. M.Eng., SMP Pribadi Depok Bilingual Boarding School, Indonesia.

Watch field videos YouTube channel