China's new deep-sea robot drills and monitors seabed at 4,147 ft

China has successfully tested its first domestically developed deep-sea robot capable of three-dimensional drilling and real-time in-situ monitoring within seabed strata. The robotic system completed a trial at a depth of 1,264 meters (approximately 4,147 feet) in the South China Sea, meeting all its design objectives. Developed by the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey under the Ministry of Natural Resources, the robot simultaneously drilled targeted seabed formations and collected over 2,000 data sets, including methane concentration, dissolved oxygen, and subsurface structural information. This data aims to enhance understanding of geological conditions and support future deep-sea exploration. The robot stands about 2.5 meters tall, weighs roughly 110 kilograms, and integrates a drilling mechanism with multiple sensors, enabling it to operate within seabed layers rather than just on the ocean floor. It features advanced autonomous navigation with AI algorithms, inertial navigation, and magnetic beacon-assisted positioning, achieving a three-dimensional positioning error below 0.3 meters