CASbenthic landers (BL)s are a series of very little knownunmanned underwater vehicles (UUV)s developed byChinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in thePeople's Republic of China (PRC). As of the early 2020s, a total of five have been identified.[1][2][3]
In addition to the usual research tasks,Canghai (沧海, meaning Sea) BL is designed to incorporate photography and filming capability,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][excessive citations] but more importantly, it is designed to transmit the image/data/video footage back to themothership or shore-based command center (via satellite) in real time,[4][5][6][7] with the rate of data transmission via fiber-optic cable is faster than5G, reaching 15G/second.[4] To better perform filming and photography missions, Canghai BL is designed with a special feature in that it incorporates anunmanned underwater vehicle (UUV)Lingyun (凌云, meaning Reaching the Cloud) inside, and when filming, Lingyun UUV would be released from Canghai to work in conjunction with the latter to achieve better result.[4][5][7][8] The cameras, lights, and fiber-optic network of Canghai and Lingyu are produced by CASXi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics (中国科学院西安光学精密机械研究所).[6]
One of the shortcomings of benthic landers is that due to the tremendous high pressure at the depth, samples collected by BLs would lose their original characteristics and properties once brought to the surface.[11]Fenghuang (凤凰, meaningphoenix) BL is designed to carry out some scientific experiments directly at the depth or on theseafloor, where the samples are collected, without having them being brought up to the surface,[11][12][13][14][15][excessive citations] so that their original characteristics and properties would not be lost due to the drastic change of depth and associated pressure, resulting in these experiments yielding more accurate results. The general designer of Fenghuang is Mr. Li Jun (李俊), and Fenghuang entered service in 2018 after half a decade of development.[11][13][14]
Haijiao (海角, meaning Cape) BL is jointly developed byShenyang Institute of Automation (SIA) of CAS and Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering (IDSSE) of CAS.[16] Originally designated asDeep Trench 01 (深渊 01), it was subsequently renamed asCape.[citation needed] In addition to other usual research tasks, Haijiao is tailored to hunt and collect animals onseabed.[16][17][18][19] Originally designed to operate at a depth of 3,000 meter, it was subsequently upgraded to operate to a depth of 7,000 meter.[16] Specification:[16]
Tianya (天涯, meaning Edge of the Heaven) BL is also jointly developed by SIA of CAS and IDSSE of CAS.[16] Originally designated asDeep Trench 02 (深渊 02), it was subsequently renamed asEdge of the Heaven.[citation needed] Originally designed to operate to a depth of 7,000 meters,[16][11][13][14] the design was so successful that it was decided to expand the depth all the way out to 10,000 meter after completing its very first 7,000 meter dive out at sea in June 2016, and after three more attempts on the same trials for 7,000 meter dive that eventually surpassed 8,000 meters, Tianya finally succeeded in diving to 10,000 meters, and it has since been repeatedly deployed to that depth since.[11][13][14][20] In addition to other usual research tasks, Tianya is tailored to collect geological samples from thesea bed.[16][12][13][14][17][18][19][excessive citations] Specification:[16]
Waquan (万泉, meaning Ten Thousand Springs) BL also capable of operating to a depth equal to that of Tianya, and in addition to usual research tasks, it is also mainly designed to carry various scientific equipment to that depth, and test them out to validate their designs.[11][13] Wanquan BL is also tasked to perform seismological surveys onsea floor.[11][12][13][14][17][18][19][excessive citations] Wanquan BL has successfully test out solid state lithium battery indigenously developed by China to a depth of more than 10,000 meters, making China the second country in the world (afterJapan) able to produce solid state lithium battery that can withstand pressure of 100megapascal.[21] The pressure hull of Wanquan BL is constructed of ceramic material, the first of its kind in China.[20] Specification:[11][13][14]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
* = Under construction or procurement or sea trials | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
