Humanoid Robot is Helping Shipwreck Research: A robot developed at Standford University in the US is diving into sunken ships and aircraft while giving its users the impression that they are also underwater explorers.
The OceanOneK robot features a humanoid upper half and 3D-capable eyes that can capture the color of the aquatic environment.
Its arms and hands give it the appearance of a human diver from the front, while computers and eight multidirectional thrusters on its back allow it to precisely maneuver the locations of vulnerable sunken ships.
According to a press release, OceanOneK’s haptic, touch-based feedback technology and stereoscopic vision generate amazingly realistic sensations. That match what an operator at the ocean’s surface would have experienced had he been below and above the control ship.
In other words, the humanoid’s operator may explore the ocean’s depths without the risks or the intense pressure of being underwater.
In September last year, deep-sea archaeologists and Stanford University roboticist Oussama Khatib’s students started sending the humanoid on dives. The group completed yet another underwater adventure in July.
Mr. Khatib said that he felt the water’s resistance while diving and could make out the ancient artifacts’ forms and vicinity.
According to the press release, OceanOneK has investigated a sunken Beechcraft Baron F-GDPV jet.
The Italian steamer Le Francesco Crispi, a second-century Roman ship off the coast of Corsica. A World War II P-38 Lightning aircraft, and a submarine are known as Le Protee.
The great thing is that when you go near this beautiful edifice. You genuinely feel it, said Mr. Khatib, adding, “I’d never encountered anything like it in my life. I may claim to have touched the Crispi at a distance of 500 meters. I touched it and felt it, so I did.
The researchers also stated that the robot’s trip to these depths had two objectives: one, to investigate previously unexplored territory. And second, to demonstrate that human touch, vision, and interaction can carry to locations far from where humans can operate.
Mr. Khatib said, “This is the first time a robot has descended to such a depth. Interacted with the environment, and allowed the human operator to sense that environment.” He said, “It has been a fantastic adventure.
OceanOne first appeared in 2016. The destroyed flagship La Lune of King Louis XIV, located 328 feet below the Mediterranean, was examined back then. But unfortunately, nobody ever discovered the 1664 shipwreck.
