New Model Deep-water Robot Successfully on Marine Test

A new model deep-water robot developed by Chinese scientists dived into an area of the Yellow Sea for the first time and succeeded in an underwater application test.
The machine is developed by the Shenyang Institute of Automation and it is equipped with hi-tech gears, such as hydraulic pressure apparatus, submarine exploration, lighting, probing equipments, pressure and orientation sensors, etc. The robot can load a host of tools such as mechanic hand, gripper, etc. if necessary. It can perform difficult tasks with a depth of 300 meters, for example, the cutting of steel pipes, plates and cables, underwater targeting, delivery of food and tools. The joints of the mechanic hand made on the basis of bionics are as agile and firm as human's. After searching for the flying rings during the test, the robot aptly gripped the slings of the flying rings with its mechanic hands. Just as engineers said: "the robot completes this work like a human being getting a thread through the needle hole." -2

Breakthrough Achieved in DMFC Project

A DICP's research project, "Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC)", has made a breakthrough progress recently. One 214W fuel cell stack by integrating 30 single fuel cells has been successfully installed and operated. The current density of 400mA/cm2, and the maximum power density of 190 mW/cm2 were acquired for a single cell.

The current generated in DMFC is produced by the reaction of methanol and oxygen (from the air) on the bi-polar plates. With no hydrogen as the fuel, DMFC is easy to operate, rich in fuel resources, cheap in price and easy to carry and stockpile. It can be used as small portable power supply in notebook PC, video camera, cell phone, etc.

With the effort of the research group, DMFC stacks of 200W in scale and utilizing metallic composite bi-polar plates have been developed. The noble metal contents in the cathode and anode catalysts are 1mg/cm2 and 2 mg/cm2, respectively. Furthermore, the conductivity of the composite bi-polar plates has reached up to 120 Scm-1, and the cost is far lower than that of graphite bi-polar plates. Two US and four Chinese patents have been filed, while other three are in the course of application.-3