AquaSweep — Waterway Restoration Vessel

The Problem

Our rivers and lakes are drowning in our waste.

Every year, millions of tons of trash enter our rivers, canals, and lakes. Unlike remote ocean garbage patches, these waterways run through the heart of our cities — and are largely ignored. We built AquaSweep to fix that.

Metric tons of plastic enter rivers & lakes yearly

500K

Urban waterways affected worldwide

300+

Cities with critical waterway pollution

50×

AquaSweep's efficiency vs. manual cleanup

Live Demonstration

See AquaSweep
in action.

The AquaSweep team — a group of Concordia University engineering students working in association with Parks Canada — invites you to witness the live demonstration and field testing of its autonomous water-surface trash collection vessel.

Date

Friday, April 24th, 2026

Time

12:00 PM — 5:00 PM

Location

Peel Basin, Lachine Canal, Montréal

Get Directions Learn More →

What to Expect

Semi-autonomous navigation demonstration on the Lachine Canal

Real-time debris detection and collection in action

Onboard storage management — live observation

Team Q&A: technical and environmental dimensions

Open community access — walk along the canal during the event window

Vessel Specifications

Built for
urban waterways.

AquaSweep MK-I is a purpose-built, fully autonomous shallow-draft vessel — agile and precise enough to navigate canals, rivers, and lakes while maintaining collection efficiency around the clock.

Length Overall

1.5m

Beam Width

1.2m

Collection Width

0.5m

Operational Speed

3.5kn

Storage Capacity

0.5 cubic meter

Max Operation Duration

4hours

Operational Range

1.5km

Emissions

Zero

The Vessel

Built and tested
in the field.

Hull & Structure

The MK-I catamaran hull features a shallow-draft aluminium frame spanning 1.5m, purpose-built for inland waterways. The wide beam ensures stability in canal and river conditions while the low profile allows passage under infrastructure.

Collection System

A passive-intake veil system spans 0.5m at the bow, funnelling floating debris into the onboard collection bay. As the vessel advances, surface material is guided through fine mesh screens — capturing waste from macro-plastic down to small particles without harming aquatic life.

Navigation & AI

AquaSweep's onboard system fuses lidar point clouds and hull-mounted sensors to build real-time debris density maps. The semi-autonomous navigation plans optimal collection routes while uploading live telemetry — speed, heading, battery, and storage — to the shore operations dashboard.

Field Deployment

AquaSweep is tested in real urban waterway conditions at the Peel Basin of the Lachine Canal, Montréal — developed by Concordia University engineering students in association with Parks Canada. The April 24th public demonstration is the culmination of months of design, build, and iteration.

Core Technology

Four systems.
One mission.

System 01 — ZeroTrace Drive

Emissions-Free Propulsion

AquaSweep’s propulsion system pairs a high-torque dual BLDC motor configuration with a robust 1.25 kWh energy reserve. Powered by two 50Ah deep-cycle batteries, the system delivers consistent, reliable thrust for sustained operations. The dual-motor architecture ensures precise maneuvering and optimal energy efficiency, providing more than enough power to navigate challenging aquatic environments with a minimal environmental footprint.

System 02 — Collector Array

The Collection Mechanism

AquaSweep's conveyor belt is custom-designed and 3D-printed from lightweight, waterproof PLA composite, allowing rapid prototyping and field-replaceable modular sections. The belt runs on a variable-speed motor, adjustable in real time based on debris density — slowing for heavy loads and accelerating in sparse conditions to maximize coverage. Debris scooped at the bow is carried continuously aft to the onboard storage bay with no manual intervention required throughout the deployment cycle.

System 03 — NeuralSweep AI

Intelligent Navigation

NeuralSweep is AquaSweep's onboard computer vision system, powered by a fine-tuned YOLO model trained on waterway debris datasets. Camera mounted at the bow feeds a live video stream into the inference pipeline, enabling the vessel to detect and classify floating waste in real time. The system builds dynamic debris density maps , plan optimal collection routes, and upload continuous telemetry to shore operations for remote monitoring.

System 04 — BioGuard AI

Marine Life Preservation

BioGuard is a secondary computer vision model running in parallel with NeuralSweep, dedicated entirely to wildlife protection. A camera trained on aquatic fauna continuously scans the conveyor belt during operation. If any live animal — fish, amphibian, or waterfowl — is detected on the belt, BioGuard immediately halts the conveyor and triggers an alert, preventing harm before the animal is returned safely to the water. Collection only resumes once the belt is confirmed clear.

AquaSweep cleans what
we left behind.

Our rivers and lakes are drowning in our waste.

See AquaSweep
in action.

Built for
urban waterways.

Built and tested
in the field.

Four systems.
One mission.

Emissions-Free Propulsion

The Collection Mechanism

Intelligent Navigation

Marine Life Preservation

Ready to clean
your waterways?

AquaSweep cleans whatwe left behind.

Our rivers and lakes are drowning in our waste.

See AquaSweepin action.

Built forurban waterways.

Built and testedin the field.

Four systems.One mission.

Emissions-Free Propulsion

The Collection Mechanism

Intelligent Navigation

Marine Life Preservation

Ready to cleanyour waterways?

AquaSweep cleans what
we left behind.

See AquaSweep
in action.

Built for
urban waterways.

Built and tested
in the field.

Four systems.
One mission.

Ready to clean
your waterways?