Chinese researchers from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology have reportedly developed a new robot-assisted diving suit that reduces a diver’s oxygen consumption by as much as 40%. This could make diving not only easier but also safer, especially for specialist applications like underwater work.
Swimming underwater is a very energy-demanding process due to water resistance and momentum loss from actions like kicking. Robotic assistance should, in theory, help diver get more “bang for their buck” during ficks, thereby requiring less per swim.
So, the less physical demand needed, the less energy, and by extension, oxygen consumed. At least, that’s the idea.
At the heart of the development is a specially designed, lightweight exoskeleton that straps to a diver’s legs. This suit assists the diver in moving through the use of motors mounted at the waist.
The suit also comes with a set of sensors that constantly monitor leg motion to refine assistance. So, the idea is that when the diver kicks their legs, the suit adds an extra boost of power, reducing the amount of physical effort needed to swim through the water.
Assisting a diver without getting in the way
“This greatly improves both efficiency and safety during complex underwater tasks. The exoskeleton assists the diver the moment the kicking direction changes – whether the leg moves forward or back – the boost is immediate and nearly imperceptible,” the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports.
Robot-assisted exoskeletons are nothing new and are becoming ever more common on land. But assisting someone to lift heavy objects or walk is relatively simple compared to underwater applications.
Walking especially involves a predictable pattern, making robotic augmentation fairly straightforward. Underwater, however, things can get a little trickier due to the inherent viscosity of water.
A diver can go from stationary to fast to slow within seconds, something less likely on land. Divers may also need to switch between “flutter” (aka Freestyle) kicking to frog kicks (breaststroke) at a whim.
Other issues, like buoyancy, translate to lighter, faster, and less predictable actions by the diver. More traditional robot exoskeletons would be too slow to adapt, and/or would need to “learn” each diver’s habits when diving.
To overcome this, the team behind the suit developed a clever algorithm called Ultra‑Robust Adaptive Oscillator (URAO). Instead of “learning” from a diver over time, this algorithm is able to “watch” leg motion in real-time.
Less effort, less oxygen
By doing this, it instantly figures out how fast a diver is kicking and determines where in a kick cycle the leg is. Using this information, it then applies the right amount of assisted force required to help the diver.
So, if the diver suddenly accelerates, the suit’s motors can adapt instantly. The same is true if the diver changes kick styles. To this end, the suit has been dubbed “plug and play,” requiring no additional training for the diver.
According to the team behind it, the main goal is for a diver to don the exoskeleton as part of their normal gearing-up process and, apart from the weight, not notice it when swimming. However, the diver should notice that they can move faster and get less tired during and after a swim.
While still experimental, this suit could prove to be a game-changer for various applications like seabed surveys, pipeline inspections, salvage and rescue operations, and military diving.