A special underwater robot competition has made a splash in northeast China's Liaoning Province as engineers battled it out in a series of challenges while showing off their latest innovations in marine technology.
A total of 23 teams competed in the 2025 China Underwater Robot Professional Contest, which concluded on Sunday in Dalian City after showcasing the latest tech trends in the underwater robotics field.
The competitors, which included Chinese universities and research institutes, took on one another in a real offshore environment, focusing on various elements such as underwater sensing, positioning, communication, and intelligent task performance.
The four-day event was held in the open waters beneath the Xinghai Bay Cross-sea Bridge in Dalian, with three main competition events and four different categories.
This included the 'operations' category, which challenged robots to dive to a depth of 15 meters, navigating sand, reefs, and currents to harvest marine products from the seabed. In the end, the Dalian University of Technology took first place in the human-machine collaboration event, capturing an impressive 49 items, while the team from Northeastern University claimed the top spot in the 'free-grabbing' category.
Those taking part say the aim is for these robots to eventually be developed to offer key assistance in potentially dangerous underwater projects or activities.
"Compared to us humans, our robot can carry out about one-third of what human can do. However, I believe that over time, robots may eventually assist divers in performing repetitive and hazardous tasks," said Zhang Wanhui, a member of the successful Dalian University of Technology team.
"We aim to replace human divers with underwater robots. We know that currently, tasks like installing and maintaining equipment under bridges and along coastlines are all done by people. There's significant potential for underwater robots in this area," said Gao Wen, director of the Pengcheng Laboratory, a cutting-edge research institution located in southern city of Shenzhen.
Initiated in 2017 by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the competition is the world's first intelligent robotics contest held in a real offshore setting.
Now in its ninth year, it has spurred over 150 related patents, driving innovation in marine technology.
Underwater robotics competition makes splash as developers eye up future applications
