Chinese scientists develop deep-sea diving robot

The self-powered soft robot successfully swam autonomously at a depth of 10,900m in the Mariana Trench.

CAPE TOWN, March 24 (ANA) – A team of Chinese researchers has developed a self-powered soft robot that successfully swam autonomously at a depth of 10,900m in the Mariana Trench.

China Central Television (CCTV), a Chinese state-controlled broadcaster, reported the achievement on Tuesday and said the new technology will significantly reduce the cost of exploring the deep sea.

A major problem deep-sea explorers face is dealing with the immense pressure, but with this new technology using a “soft fish” robot, they can now explore the deepest waters.

“At the depth of 10,900 metres where we go, it’s equivalent to 1,100 atmospheres,” said Professor Li Tiefeng, from the Cross Mechanics Center, Aeronautics and Astronautics School, Zhejiang University.

“To explain more vividly, the pressure of 1,100 atmospheres is equivalent to one fingernail-sized area holding an object weighing more than one ton.

“Under such pressure, a typical robot or device would normally use a pressure shell made of titanium alloy or high-strength alloy,” he said.

According to Tech Xplore, an engineering, electronics and technology news website, soft robots have been previously constructed to emulate soft-body creatures like squid.

They added that researchers used soft polymers for this design, which was inspired by a deep-sea snailfish, which can withstand high pressure.

“For it to keep running well under high pressure and low temperatures in the deep sea, the battery and all the controlling chip circuits are in the robot’s belly,” said Li.

“This means that we also need to make sure that the belly doesn’t get crushed under such high pressure,” he said.

– African News Agency (ANA); Edited by Yaron Blecher