Introduction: From "going to heaven" to "going to the sea", the emergence of underwater robots as a new form of robot has also broadened the field of artificial intelligence development, and as a new direction of development, they should also have "great potential".

　　

 

April 14, 1912 was a sad day. The Titanic set out from Southampton, England, passing through Cherbourg-Octeville, France, and Queenstown, Ireland (now British). The planned destination was New York, the United States, and began the maiden voyage of this "Dream Passenger Ship".

However, the Titanic collided with an iceberg during its voyage, causing a serious maritime accident during peacetime and also known to date, with a total of 1502 deaths.

Nearly a century later, RMS Titanic formed a team of scientists to conduct underwater exploration of the Titanic. This team of scientists used several underwater robots to investigate the wreckage, taking thousands of photos and hours of footage. The wreckage of the Titanic is now lying quietly 2.5 miles (approximately 4000 meters) underwater. High resolution photos show the bow of the Titanic, with fences and anchors clearly visible.

A few days ago, Professor Pierre of the University of East Anglia, UK, used several "ocean gliders" to realize the "sound of the sea" detection in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Southern Ocean. Through rapid and covert actions and only a small sound, he can travel quietly underwater.

It can travel thousands of kilometers within a few months, during which the sound emitted by marine organisms such as fish can be recorded, providing data support for scientists to study and protect marine life. The ocean glider communicates with ground scientists through satellites, and the collected data is beneficial for helping ocean scientists draw ecological maps of the ocean.

The emergence of underwater robots as a new form of robot has also broadened the field of artificial intelligence development, from "going to the sky" to "going to the sea". As a new direction of development, they should also have great potential.

The "New Blue Ocean" in the Deep Sea Competition Field

In recent years, driven by the drone market, underwater intelligent robot products have also begun to emerge and have been widely used in resource survey sampling, salvage, and military applications. Especially the numerous underwater robots that have recently appeared at the High tech Fair not only demonstrate their technology, but also demonstrate the potential and potential for the development of underwater robots.

As the field of view gradually shifts from the sky and land to the ocean, intelligent relativity analyst Ke Ming believes that the development of underwater robots has great prospects. With the gradual completion of artificial intelligence technology and robot hardware, the "deep-sea competition" of underwater robots will also become increasingly fierce.

1. The 'blue ocean market' that has not yet been fully developed

Underwater robots have always given people a mysterious and unpredictable impression, and have never entered the public's vision. They stand in stark contrast to the booming market for aerial drones. In fact, the underwater robot market is a market with huge capacity and potential. But currently, it has not been fully developed and the consumer base is relatively large.

From An unmanned Remotely operated underwater vehicle was launched in 1953. Since then, underwater robots have been active in the military industry or in the laboratories of scientific research institutes. The United States was the first country to develop underwater robots and also has Technology.

A team from Stanford University has developed an underwater humanoid robot called OceanOne, which is equipped with a computing unit, battery, and thruster on its back. It can swim like a real person, standing at 5 feet tall, and uses artificial intelligence and tactile feedback systems to convey the feeling of a human holding something to terminal devices.

From the perspective of industry development, the total amount of the underwater robot market is very considerable, which can be roughly divided into consumer level and enterprise level markets. Especially in the enterprise level market, many high-risk, complex, and labor-intensive underwater jobs will gradually be replaced by underwater robots.

According to a recent announcement released by market research company IDC, the market size of robots and drones in 2018 will reach 103.1 billion US dollars, an increase of 22.1% compared to 2017. The robot market is trending hot, and underwater robots, as a new application scenario in the robot industry, will have more opportunities.

Compared to drones, which are relatively mature in technology and products and have been accepted by the consumer market, underwater robots need to be developed in terms of technology and product form, and the prices of products are also relatively expensive. However, from the perspective of market structure, there are currently not many players in the domestic underwater robot market, relatively There are less than ten companies, and there are no giants dominating the market. The market is in its infancy and has not yet been fully developed.

2. There is great potential to meet the needs of ocean exploration

In traditional concepts, the application fields of underwater robots are more military and industrial, mainly achieving tasks such as seabed resource exploration, mining, and seabed rescue.

However, with the development of Internet, artificial intelligence, intelligent manufacturing and other technologies and the improvement of people's living standards, the public's demand for underwater exploration is also growing, and the market of underwater intelligent robots is gradually expanding to commercial, civil and other fields. Subsequently, there are various forms of underwater navigation products, such as consumer grade underwater robots with different forms that are more inclined towards the C-end and can be used for entertainment and science and education film shooting.

Nowadays, underwater intelligent robots have become well-known to the public. In addition to being able to move and detect underwater, they have been equipped with technologies such as vision, perception, artificial intelligence, and automatic balance, greatly improving their speed, diving depth, and clarity of captured images. They can already meet the basic needs of unmanned underwater control.

3. The application field is quite extensive

From the market performance of underwater robots, their application fields are also quite extensive. For example, in aquaculture, many bottom sowing and breeding marine ranches in China still use manpower and primitive tools for harvesting. This not only has high labor intensity, low production efficiency, high harvesting costs, but also poses extremely high risks for farmers. The rise and development of underwater robots can help fishermen easily solve these problems.

Underwater robots will also have great potential in the field of pipeline cleaning. Due to uneven population distribution, urban pipelines in China are facing problems such as blockage and disrepair. If underwater robots are used for pipeline inspection, the pipeline that needs to be repaired can be located, avoiding large-scale excavation and reinstallation, saving a lot of manpower and time, and ensuring the normal operation of urban transportation.

On the entertainment consumer end, underwater robots also have a quite broad market. With the rise of diving, the number of people in China with diving certificates has reached 150 million. More and more people are interested in deepwater sports, which also brings opportunities to the C-end market. For example, entertainment venues such as aquariums, amusement parks, and science museums require underwater robots to monitor the water environment, provide real-time information feedback, and avoid drowning and casualties. In the field of personal consumption, small underwater robots can also be used for underwater photography, making them easy to carry.

Is "the world above sea" an illusion or an industry trend?

Nowadays, the development speed of the underwater robot industry has significantly improved, and with the expansion of its application scenarios, more and more companies are starting to enter this field. However, based solely on the current situation in China, even if the entrants are early, they have not yet differentiated themselves in terms of product performance, technology, market share, etc. Entrepreneurs are still in the initial stage of development. Intelligent Relativity Analyst Ke Ming believes that whether it is illusion or air vent, there are still several issues that need to be addressed.

Although the industry has become clear, the implementation of the C-end is still a problem

At present, the development of underwater robots on the market is starting to assist in the direction of the C-end. However, even with AI bonuses, domestic underwater intelligent robots still face significant difficulties in achieving a direct landing to the C-end.

In fact, the C-end landing of underwater robots still faces issues such as buoyancy, waterproofing, and power propulsion, which require high structural requirements for the product itself and require strong technical support.

On the contrary, although consumer grade underwater intelligent robots have begun to become popular in China and are mainly used for diving, sea fishing, and underwater photography, domestic brands of underwater robot products have never been able to win the favor of users in the mid to high end civilian markets at home and abroad. After all, its application space is in dangerous oceans, and both the usage environment and lifespan must withstand severe tests.

Therefore, although the underwater robot industry is infiltrating our lives through various aspects. However, due to the high technical threshold, high research and development difficulty, and long cycle, even if some products fail to meet practical standards, most underwater robot products still lean towards the B-end and are relatively expensive. If the industry wants to truly penetrate the C-end market, it still needs to break through the price and usage barriers. Unfortunately, underwater robots that cost less than 10000 yuan and are easy to operate and carry have not yet appeared in the market.

2. The "three major challenges" are difficult to overcome

For the B-end market, it is also not "flawless". There are also many challenges that need to be overcome for underwater robots in the B-end market.

The first thing to solve is the sealing problem. As a robot that operates underwater for a long time, it has numerous electronic components such as circuits and motors inside. Currently, the industry has strengthened the sealing of the equipment shell and installed sealing chambers inside, but the effectiveness is not satisfactory.

Secondly, the underwater balance ability of robots. According to Archimedes' principle in physics, an object immersed in liquid or gas will be subject to upward buoyancy, which is equal to the gravity of the liquid discharged by the object. And buoyancy is an important issue that underwater robots need to solve, but it not only requires developers to Calculations also require a fairly detailed gravity layout of the equipment, with each wire inside the equipment carefully considered and subjected to dozens of tests.

Later, as an underwater robot, it also had higher requirements for communication equipment, cameras, thrusters, and other equipment. After all, the basic job of underwater robots is to replace humans by diving into the water and capturing underwater conditions through cameras. During this process, lighting is also required, and then these data will be transmitted back to the associated devices on the water through wireless devices.

Overall, there is still a long way to go for the development of both B-end and C-end underwater robots, but it can also be seen that their aquaculture, water pollution detection, education industry, municipal pipeline detection, and civilian industry still have great prospects.

After all, underwater robots play an irreplaceable role in rescuing the Titanic and listening to the sound of the sea.