The Paper's reporter Yao Xianglu correspondent Chen Hang Sheng Wang Miaozhi
On March 4th, the international top journal "Nature" published the research results of Zhijiang Laboratory and Zhejiang University on the cover - a bionic deep-sea soft robot that can withstand the pressure of 10,000 meters of deep-sea still water pressure without a pressure-resistant shell, and the research team took the lead in the world to realize the 10,000-meter deep-sea control and deep-sea autonomous swimming experiment of the soft robot, which will provide solutions for deep-sea exploration scientific expeditions, environmental monitoring and resource exploration.
Nature magazine cover.
The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) learned from Zhijiang Laboratory that the bionic deep-sea soft robot resembles a fish, 22 centimeters long, 28 centimeters wide wingspan, about the size of A4 paper, and the prototype comes from a lionfish living in the Mariana Trench at 6,000 to 11,000 meters.
Biological studies have found that the bones of lionfish are distributed in fine pieces in the gelatinous body and can withstand the pressure of nearly 100 megapascals, equivalent to about a ton of car pressing on the fingertips. "The structure of the lionfish inspires us that if we can turn the 'mystery of life' in the deep sea into the 'power of the machine', we can develop biomimetic, soft and miniaturized intelligent robots that adapt to the extreme environment of the deep sea." Li Guorui, the first author of the paper and senior research commissioner of the Intelligent Robot Research Center of Zhijiang Laboratory, said.
The research team mechanically designed the structure and materials of electronic devices and soft substrates to optimize the stress state in the robot under high pressure environment. Hard devices such as control circuits and batteries are integrated into the gel-like soft body, and by designing and adjusting the materials and structures of the devices and software, the robot can withstand the deep-sea hydrostatic pressure of 10,000 meters without a pressure-resistant shell.
Bionic deep-sea soft robot.
In terms of power, the robot relies on its own small energy control system and dielectric elastomer artificial muscles in the oval part of the middle of the wings to achieve propulsion. When the electronic devices in the silicone body generate electrical signals, the dielectric elastomer produces a muscle-like deformation pattern under stimulation, and the wings move with the muscle expansion and contraction. In order to overcome the attenuation of the electrical drive performance of the polymer material under high pressure and low temperature conditions, the team developed an electric drive artificial muscle that can adapt to the deep sea environment, and can still work normally at low temperatures (0 to 4 °C) and high pressure (110 MPa) in the Mariana Trench.
"Overall, the bionic deep-sea soft robot achieves two key breakthroughs: a hard-soft fusion machine system that adapts to the pressure of deep-sea still water and a new dielectric high-elastic drive suitable for driving in a deep-sea high-pressure and low-temperature environment." Li Guorui said that in order to resist the huge hydrostatic pressure, the existing deep-sea robots need to be protected by high-strength metal pressure-resistant containers, and the bionic deep-sea soft robot can realize the miniaturization, flexibility and intelligence of the deep submersible, which is expected to greatly reduce the difficulty and cost of deep-sea exploration.
Bionic deep-sea soft robot project team.
According to reports, in December 2019, the bionic deep-sea soft body robot sat at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and the image records showed that it achieved a stable flapping wing drive at a depth of 10,900 meters. On August 27 last year, the robot successfully swam autonomously at a depth of 3224 meters in the South China Sea.
00:27
The robot is driven in the 10,900 meters deep sea of the Mariana Trench. (00:27)
00:46
The robot swims autonomously in the 3224-meter deep sea of the South China Sea. (00:46)
"Our robots have good application prospects in harsh and special environments such as deep sea, polar regions, and high impact." Li Guorui said that the project team will continue to study the energy, drive and perception integration system of deep-sea soft intelligent equipment to improve intelligence and reduce application costs; it also plans to apply technology to deep submersibles, develop miniaturized equipment, and realize functions such as deep-sea communication and detection.
Zhijiang Laboratory is a new mixed ownership R&D institution jointly organized by Zhejiang Provincial Government, Zhejiang University and Alibaba, with major scientific and technological tasks and large-scale scientific and technological infrastructure construction as the main line, and carries out cutting-edge basic research, key technology research and core system research and development around the four research directions of intelligent perception, intelligent computing, intelligent network and intelligent system.
Editor-in-Charge: Zhang Jun
Proofreader: Liu Wei