Ice-drilling and Gripping Experiments in Actual Conditions for Developing Earthworm-type Ice-drilling Robot for Extensive Under-sea-ice Surveys

Abstract

There is an urgent requirement to solve the problem of global warming. The sea ice beneath the Arctic Ocean strongly affects the global climate. However, it has not been fully explored. The range of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) used for under-ice exploration is limited owing to their short communication range. To solve this problem, we propose a communication relay system that uses a sea ice drilling robot. We conducted excavation and gripping experiments on actual sea ice to study the parameters and control methods required to design a sea ice drilling robot. The required specifications of excavation and propulsion units were obtained from the experimental results, and a recovery method was developed to address drilling failure.