Students from Drexel University are working on a prototype that might just bring the spirit of Baltimore’s Mr. Trash Wheel to Philly. (We <3 u, Mr. Trash Wheel.)

Drexel’s MANTA — short for “Multipurpose Aquatic Navigator and Trash Annihilator” — is a prototype made by Daniel Diazdelcastillo, Aryaman Sinha, Alexander Ly, Elisabeth Wagner and Nicholas Philips that aims to eliminate water debris. Using two propeller thrusters, the self-contained unit moves through water, gobbling up residue in its path and shredding to bits. It then compacts the waste and puts it in a removable bin.

The true game-changer is the prototype’s capacity to autonomously direct itself through the lake, river or pond it wants to cleanup. Using GPS and object detection, it creates the most optimal path to gobble up the trash.

Here’s a quick explainer video:

“As of right now, there is no direct plan to have a production build or start a business,” Diazdelcastillo told Technical.ly “All my team members and myself will be working full time after graduation but I will do anything I can to get a business and the product up and running. Hopefully I can work on the MANTA project soon full-time as a startup.”

The challenge, as you might expect, is finding the funds to get MANTA from prototype to reality. The team estimates that making a full-fledged model would run about $20,000.

“Everybody I have talked to or presented to says that they love the idea and see how it can change the world,” Diazdelcastillo said.

One word of advice for the young team? Make a Twitter account for MANTA right now, one that gives Mr. Trash Wheel’s a run for his money.

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