What a mystery is being unraveled
In China, a team of researchers from Beihang University has developed a robot capable of reaching the incredible depth of 10,600 m by exploring the legendary Mariana Trench, the deepest known point on Earth.
To explore such extreme depths the robot needed to be compact, lightweight and at the same time incredibly resistant to the very high pressures of the ocean depths, the researchers created a special technology soft actuators that alternate between stable states using latch mechanism and shape memory alloy springs.
Technology for the depths.
These special actuators contain incompressible parts which allow them to store elastic energy, the greater the ambient pressure the more energy the robot accumulates and releases resulting in even faster and more efficient movements as it dives deeper, the robot can easily switch between different modes of locomotion using its legs to crawl slowly over the ocean floor.
With symmetrical fins for fast swimming and foldable pectoral fins for gliding smoothly through underwater currents, this incredible shape-shifting capability is managed by a small microcontroller and an integrated battery ensuring sufficient autonomy for long-duration missions.
After rigorous laboratory tests, the robot was taken to Haima Cold Seep at a depth of 1,384 meters before facing its greatest challenge, exploring the dark and mysterious waters of the Mariana Trench, where the crushing pressure reaches deadly levels for any human being.
After the successful test, the robot reached the historical mark of 10,666 meters, demonstrating that it can function perfectly even in extreme conditions, expanding our ability to study the seabed and understand completely unknown ecosystems.
This robot's ability to operate at extreme depths represents a significant advance, opening doors for advanced scientific research, collection of rare samples and the discovery of hitherto unknown species.
