La Union National High School

City of San Fernando, La Union

SPECIAL PROGRAM FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING (STE)

S.T.E.M.

(Sub-terranean Trash Excavating Machine)

Submitted by:

Karganilla, Jan Marc S.

Submitted to:

Mrs. Juvy Ann Fernandez

February 2018
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Over twenty weather disturbances in the form of low pressure areas which
develop into typhoons form or enter our country’s area of responsibility within a year.
According to PAGASA, an average of eight or nine tropical cyclones that develop from
these low pressure zones make landfall each year. According to the same source, a
record of 19 tropical cyclones smashed into the country’s coast in 1993. All these
because our country is located in a zone in the Pacific that is aptly called a typhoon
path.

Typhoons usually causes heavy floods to many places in the Philippines,

especially to the urban areas. Flood has always been a real dilemma to Filipino Families
every year, as it can affect their properties and destroy other resources. Sometimes
excessive flood not only damages property nor destroy resources but can also kill a life
of a human. If we carefully analyze the reason of this alarming situation, we will
eventually come up with the real culprit of the show, clogged drainages.

Drainage systems are originally made to collect, transport and dispose excess
waters from streets. This solution has always been the answer for flood in how many
years up until now. However, the world’s unending needs and innovations have also
left unending garbages to our environment. Their abundance made it hard to segregate
one by one so they are often left in streets and eventually transported to the canals due
to different factors.
 When accumulated up, pile of garbages will become a great wall inside drainages
causing canals to be clogged and aside from floods, drainage problems can also lead to
serious health issues. Since water becomes stagnant, it becomes a lot more habitable
for certain mosquitoes and allowing them to lay eggs. Mosquito bites kill more than a
million in every year and it is considered as one of the most deadliest bites of all times.
A lot of lives could have been saved if it’s not only for unhealthy drainages.

Despite all these, the country has learned to live with these events and their
consequences. However, it is feared that the onset of climate change, together with
human activities that interfere with the earth’s natural cycles, will further worsen the
effects for the generations to come. We therefore need to use all of our God-given
talents and skills to engineer solutions that will decrease the impacts or even move us
out of the way of the dangers that these events might cause to happen.

All throughout human history, Science and Technology have always been our
friends in facing up to the challenges of the times. To cite some instances, Science and
Technology has fought off hunger in many parts of the globe, eradicated killer diseases
that claimed millions of lives in the past, designed earthquake- resistant buildings and
homes that significantly minimized death due to structural collapse, and bridged the
gap across oceans to bring different peoples together. And today, more than ever,
Science and Technology will again be on our side as we meet the challenges brought
about by climate change and the consequences that are associated with it.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics should prove themselves very useful in
filling up human handicaps in the face of natural calamities. AI and robotics will see to it
that humans in this generation can engineer solutions so that the generations to come
will inherit a better and safer world to live in.
 Already, drones that carry instruments onboard fly to measure weather
conditions. Also, unmanned aircrafts fly into the eyes of typhoons to make precise
calculations that enable meteorologists to become more accurate in forecasting wind
speed, rainfall and direction of a typhoon. Satellites feed us with continuous information
about the current whereabouts and status of weather disturbances all over the globe.

Still, many problems need to be addressed. There is not much that humans can
do against the forces of nature but there is much that can be done in reducing the
impact of nature’s forces on human lives. For example, one effort in this direction is to
construct robots that can be sent to de-clog and dredge blocked sewer and drainage
systems that are too dangerous for humans to venture in.

Such a robot will be equipped with all-terrain and all-weather tracts to prevent
slippage over wet, slippery and muddy conditions at the bottom of a sewer. It will have
mechanical arms with buck-hoe type dredging tip to excavate and remove packed and
hardened solid trash inside narrow sewers. It will also be mounted with powerful search
lights and camera that feed images on a TV screen located above ground for the
operator to see. A powerful battery will sustain its power while in actual operation.

These robots will be useful when toxic gases from decomposing wastes prevent
humans from doing the actual work of de-clogging. Also, they will be useful when
inclement weather conditions do not allow humans to go out of the safe confines of
their homes. When the sewers are too dark and too narrow for human safety, then
robots will take their place instead.
OBJECTIVES

The project has the following for its objectives:

1. To develop a robot that can be used to dredge and de-clog blocked sewers
and drainage systems to ensure continuous flow of water.

2. To prevent human lives from unnecessarily becoming exposed to the risks of

toxic gases and collapse associated with dredging and de-clogging sewers
and drainage systems.

3. To help ease flooding which is one of the consequences of heavy rains

especially during a typhoon.

4. To contribute to the overall safety of residents by reducing the risks

associated with health issues caused by clogged drainages.

FEATURES

 Autonomous since it is already programmed.

 The robot is powered by a powerful battery that will assure its long run.

 The S.T.E.M has a spider-like legs enabling the robot to move onto rough
terrains with different garbages, rocks, muds caused by the continuous flow of
water.

 It can climb rocky terrains and be submerged onto a shallow water without
damaging the inside of it.
  S.T.E.M comes with sensors of water velocity, water depth, and concentration of
toxic gases.

 Allows transmission of the drainage’s data to a computer for further analysis.

 Carrying a camera, the robot can be monitored in case of emergencies like low
power, malfunctions and rodents trying to destroy the robot.

 Aside from camera, the robot carries powerful flashlights that can light up the
whole surrounding for a better view from the monitors.

 It can excavate detected wastes and carry it until it reaches the end of terrain.

 After excavating the trashes, it leaves solution that can kill potential hazards like
mosquito larvae and bacterias.

 Sprays little amount of algaecide to control algae contributing to the clogging of

canals.

 Alerts the unit supervisor in times of malfunctions.

PLACE OF STUDY

The province of La Union and its capital city of San Fernando lie in the north
western part of Luzon, the largest island in the country. It is a home to more than a
hundred thousand residents and a host to major commercial, trade and industrial
activities of its people and other investors. A home to several educational institutions
and medical as well as recreational facilities, San Fernando City is the hub of entire
Ilocos region, known also as Region I.
 The geographic position of the City of San Fernando puts it in the path of
typhoons throughout most of the wet season. It also lies along the eastern seaboard of
the South China Sea. The commercial district, as the heart and center of the city also
called, is a picture of heavy steel and concrete infrastructural build up with cemented
roads and walks connecting all sectors within the district.

During heavy downpours, it is not unusual to find the heart of the city and
nearby areas underwater due to flooding. This is due to old and narrow drainage
systems that are now just getting the attention they need.

Deeper and wider drainage stems are now just being constructed to replace the
old, which are too small to handle the volume of water that flows during a steady
downpour. To make matters worse, they, too, are clogged by solid wastes like papers,
paperboards and plastics. Lack of maintenance work has also rendered most of the
canals shallow due to sediments that have accumulated through the years.

LIMITATIONS

 Limited power supply up to 3 hours continuous operation at full capacity.

 The robot can only operate in shallow water

 Only follows the pre-programmed route.

 Operates slower in fast-current canals.

 Retrieve load capacity limit of 1 cubic meter.

 FIELD OF THE ROBOT
START OF ROUTE

START OF ROUTE

LEGEND:
Drainage’s water flow
END OF ROUTE

Canal Route

The S.T.E.M can be placed in every opening of the drainage with the pre-
programmed route. First, the robot will analyse the terrains depth, air and water
components and to be transmitted on a computer, this process will continue until the
end of the program for the comparing of toxic levels and depth.
 It will then follow the canals current and can oppose the current in order to
follow the pre-programmed route. It will only stop collecting garbages when it reaches
its capacity limit. After reaching the limit, it will notify the unit supervisor and start to
move towards the end of the canal leaving algaecides and pesticides to control pests
and algaes that contribute in clogging the canal.

MATERIALS
 Data Transmitter
 Wires

 Excavating Claws
 Power Supply

 Motor
 Sensors

 Air/

 Camera Water Analyzer

 Metals

 Algaecide

 Flashlights

 Chemical Solutions

 Chip

 Basket Trash Cans  Motor Sprays