en.Wedoany.com Reported - The submarine cable positioning and burial robot system developed by Dalian Jiaotong University is planned for export to offshore engineering markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, aiming to expand China's participation in the global marine equipment sector. This technology is designed to support overseas project collaborations while promoting the internationalization of China's marine equipment industry.
This robot system is primarily used to detect submarine cables buried beneath sediment, with a positioning error of less than 5%. It can also rebury exposed cables with sediment to reduce the risk of environmental damage. The robot is designed for continuous operation, capable of working around the clock in water depths of up to 300 meters and maintaining stability under strong ocean currents.
According to Professor Chen Shaohua from the School of Railway Intelligent Engineering at Dalian Jiaotong University, the system combines sonar and electromagnetic sensors: sonar identifies the approximate location of the cable, while electromagnetic sensors precisely track the cable's path beneath the seabed. The research team has also introduced a denoising algorithm to filter out environmental interference, improving the robot's decision-making speed by 40%.
Submarine cables are critical infrastructure for global telecommunications and power transmission networks, but they are vulnerable to seabed movement, geological activity, and commercial fishing. Their repair and maintenance often involve complex underwater operations, historically relying on foreign technology. The Dalian research team began developing this system in 2017 to address the challenges of detecting and maintaining buried cables in low-visibility underwater environments.
The technology has already been deployed in several domestic projects, including the installation of the Hainan Wenchang international submarine cable and an underwater power cable burial project off the coast of Zhejiang in the East China Sea. In 2023, during an offshore wind power installation project in Guangdong, the system buried cables at a speed of 11.6 meters per minute, setting an industry benchmark.
The research team is currently working to enhance the system's ability to detect cables buried more than three meters beneath the seabed, while also developing a real-time 3D imaging system to provide live visual feedback for underwater inspection and maintenance operations.
