Deep Dive Dubai, the world’s deepest dive pool, recently hosted a public display of Stanford University’s groundbreaking OceanOneK humanoid robotic underwater explorer
The event, which was led by Professor Oussama Khatib, Weichai Professor in the School of Engineering and director of the Stanford Robotics Lab, showcased OceanOneK‘s potential to ‘seamlessly interact’ with its environment and the human divers that may accompany it.
OceanOneK is designed with a humanoid front half, with stereoscopic vision provided by twin cameras serving as its ‘eyes’, and human-like arms and hands for manipulating its surroundings. The robot’s rear half contains eight multi-directional thrusters for precision manoeuvrability underwater.
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The hands have a specially designed haptic feedback system which gives the robot’s operator the ability to ‘feel’ objects and the environment as they are handled.
During a 2022 test dive to the sunken Italian steamship Francesco Crispi, which lies at a depth of approximately 500m off the Mediterranean island of Elba, Khatib said it felt like he was able to touch the wreck.
‘You are moving very close to this amazing structure and something incredible happens when you touch it: You actually feel it,’ said Khatib, talking about his experience. ‘I’d never experienced anything like that in my life. I can say I’m the one who touched the Crispi at 500 m. And I did – I touched it, I felt it.’
OceanOneK began development in 2014, with its predecessor, OceanOne, built to withstand depths of approximately 200m, but Khatib had his sights set on a piece of equipment that could function at much greater depths, with more dexterity than traditional ROVs.
In order to increase the depth capability of the robot, the Stanford team developed a special foam made from glass microspheres that would be able to withstand the immense pressure of being 1km underwater – more than 100 times greater than it is at the surface.
The event at Deep Dive Dubai showcased OceanOneK‘s capabilities with a series of tasks, collecting objects, depositing them into containers, playing pool and interacting with human divers.
‘The OceanOneK’s ability to seamlessly interact with its surroundings sets a new standard for underwater robotics and opens innovative paths for research and discovery, said Jarrod Jablonski, director of Deep Dive Dubai. ‘At Deep Dive Dubai, we firmly believe that diving is not just a sport, but a spirit of exploration that fuels our collective imagination.
‘We encourage individuals to test their limits and plunge into new depths, both figuratively and literally. Our facility is a testament to this ethos, equipped with the latest cutting-edge technology, creating an environment where innovation thrives.’
A robot that is able to interact with its surroundings and provide its operator with the sensation of almost being present in the environment brings a huge advantage to the exploration of the deep sea, about which we still know remarkably little.
The ability to visit wrecks or sunken cities beyond the reach of human divers will provide a significant benefit to maritime archaeology, and provide enhanced functionality to search and recovery operations.
Furthermore, being able to operate in extreme environments will undoubtedly prove helpful in analysing – and perhaps preventing – the potentially detrimental effects arising from the inevitable exploitation of the deep-sea floor.
‘Distancing humans physically from dangerous and unreachable spaces while connecting their skills, intuition, and experience to the task promises to fundamentally alter remote work,’ said Khatib.
‘Robotic avatars will search for and acquire materials, build infrastructure, and perform disaster prevention and recovery operations – be it deep in oceans and mines, at mountain tops, or in space.’
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