Bioinspired soft robots for deep-sea exploration

Nat Commun. 2023 Nov 4;14(1):7097. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-42882-3.

Authors

Guorui Li^#^{1

2

3}, Tuck-Whye Wong^#^{4

5}, Benjamin Shih⁶, Chunyu Guo^{7

8

9}, Luwen Wang¹⁰, Jiaqi Liu¹¹, Tao Wang^{7

8

9}, Xiaobo Liu^{7

8

9}, Jiayao Yan¹², Baosheng Wu¹³, Fajun Yu^{7

8}, Yunsai Chen⁷, Yiming Liang¹⁴, Yaoting Xue⁴, Chengjun Wang⁴, Shunping He¹⁵, Li Wen¹¹, Michael T Tolley¹², A-Man Zhang^{8

9}, Cecilia Laschi^{16

17}, Tiefeng Li¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Qingdao Innovation and Development Base, Harbin Engineering University, Qingdao, China. grli@hrbeu.edu.cn.
² Science and Technology on Underwater Vehicle Technology Laboratory, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China. grli@hrbeu.edu.cn.
³ College of Shipbuilding Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China. grli@hrbeu.edu.cn.
⁴ Center for X-Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Malaysia.
⁶ School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁷ Qingdao Innovation and Development Base, Harbin Engineering University, Qingdao, China.
⁸ Science and Technology on Underwater Vehicle Technology Laboratory, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China.
⁹ College of Shipbuilding Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China.
¹⁰ School of Information and Electrical Engineering, Hangzhou City University, Hangzhou, China.
¹¹ School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, Beijing, China.
¹² Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, MA, USA.
¹³ School of Ecology and Environment, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China.
¹⁴ Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, China.
¹⁵ Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China.
¹⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
¹⁷ The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
¹⁸ Center for X-Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. litiefeng@zju.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The deep ocean, Earth's untouched expanse, presents immense challenges for exploration due to its extreme pressure, temperature, and darkness. Unlike traditional marine robots that require specialized metallic vessels for protection, deep-sea species thrive without such cumbersome pressure-resistant designs. Their pressure-adaptive forms, unique propulsion methods, and advanced senses have inspired innovation in designing lightweight, compact soft machines. This perspective addresses challenges, recent strides, and design strategies for bioinspired deep-sea soft robots. Drawing from abyssal life, it explores the actuation, sensing, power, and pressure resilience of multifunctional deep-sea soft robots, offering game-changing solutions for profound exploration and operation in harsh conditions.

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Review

Abstract

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