Though the challenge we chose was a broad one, we chose to tackle it with a specific idea in mind. We wanted to use advanced drone technology to clean massive amounts of trash in oceanic garbage patches. So, we designed the trash whale. This device would be around the size of a dolphin propelled by a fan, with floats on the sides to keep it above water. It has a mouth on the front the leads to a conveyor belt in the body. The belt has holes to filter out water, and trash gets stored in the body. We would create a fleet of these drones to collect mass amounts of trash in garbage patches. Although the model we created is rudimentary, the technology could be built upon.

Research sources:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/

https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/baleen-whales/diet/

https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/Baltimores-trash-eating-waterwheel/96/i16