⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠A team of researchers from Beihang University, in collaboration with the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Zhejiang University, has developed a miniature deep-sea morphable robot, marking a significant milestone in China's deep-sea exploration and robotics. According to the experts, this pressure-resistant robot, by repurposing its legs and fins, has already successfully performed swimming, gliding, morphing, and crawling in the Haima Cold Seep and the Mariana Trench at the depths of 1,384 meters and 10,666 meters, respectively. "We've figured out how to make its movement in the deep sea just as good as, or even better than it performs on land under normal temperature and pressure," said Wen Li, a professor from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Automation at Beihang University. He introduced that the pressure at a depth of 10,000 meters in the deep sea is equivalent to the weight of a small iceberg and the extreme condition poses a major challenge to the key components and driving parts of the miniature deep-sea robot, which is less than 50 centimeters in length and weighs only 1.5 kilograms. "We utilized the bistable chiral structure. The chiral barrier would protrude to the other side, if we apply a slight force. This mechanism proves to be highly effective in the deep sea. The reason is that the pressure in the deep sea will make this soft and flexible material harder," said Wen. He also said that the team members during the six-year development process, also solved numerous challenges such as the movement patterns, automatic control, and overall structural design in deep-sea environments, and completed the prototype development of the deep-sea robot. Currently, the team is actively pursuing research in the field of deep-sea morphable robotics combined with artificial intelligence, aiming to create more extensive opportunities for intelligent operations in deep-sea environments. SHOTLIST: FILE: South China Sea, China - Date Unknown 1. Miniature deep-sea morphable robot being put into sea; 2. Various of robot at sea; 3. Sea waves; FILE: Mariana Trench - Date Unknown 4. Various of robot underwater; Beijing, China - Recent 5. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wen Li, professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University (starting with shot 4/ending with shot 6): "We've figured out how to make its movement in the deep sea just as good as, or even better than it performs on land under normal temperature and pressure."; FILE: South China Sea, China - Date Unknown 6. Various of robot at sea; Beijing, China - Recent 7. Various of researchers adjusting robot; 8. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wen Li, professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University (starting with shot 7/ending with shot 9): "We utilized the bistable chiral structure. The chiral barrier would protrude to the other side, if we apply a slight force. This mechanism proves to be highly effective in the deep sea. The reason is that the pressure in the deep sea will make this soft and flexible material harder."; 9. Various of components; 10. Various of robots being tested underwater. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]