China has completed the world's first underwater cooperative operation involving both a manned submersible and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in polar regions during its 15th Arctic Ocean scientific expedition.
Concluding last Friday, this expedition is the largest of its kind for China to date. Organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources, this round of Arctic survey was jointly carried out by four vessels, including Xuelong 2, Jidi, Shenhai-1 and Tansuo-3.
During the expedition, the Jiaolong manned submersible carried by Shenhai-1 (Deep Sea No.1) scientific research vessel conducted the underwater collaborative operation with an ROV.
"As a manned submersible, Jiaolong has traditionally operated alone. This time, we expanded its capabilities by working together with an ROV. We had to overcome challenges related to communication, positioning, and coordination -- key issues for successful joint underwater operations," said Fu Wentao, chief pilot of Jiaolong's first Arctic dive.
On August 14, Jiaolong and the ROV completed their first synchronized dive, testing underwater positioning and communication systems. The following day, they carried out a second joint mission, during which the ROV captured videos of Jiaolong taking samples of underwater life and sediments on the seabed, while Jiaolong handed over rocks and operation markers to the ROV. The two also recorded footage of each other operating deep beneath the sea.
"Collaborative operations between a manned submersible and an ROV can produce results greater than the sum of their parts. This approach addresses the limited sampling capacity of manned vehicles underwater and exemplifies how human ingenuity and robotic precision can be combined. It's a natural and necessary evolution for deep-sea exploration," said Li Dewei, deputy director of the Deep Sea Engineering Technology Center at China's National Deep Sea Center.
China achieves historic undersea collaboration between manned submersible, ROV in Arctic expedition
