A UK-Brazilian partnership has developed a tentacle-like underwater robot that could remove the need for large vessels and human divers for offshore inspections and enable smaller underwater vehicles to perform sophisticated inspection tasks, thereby reducing operational costs and improving personnel safety and environmental sustainability.
Developed through a collaboration between the UK’s National Robotarium and Senai Cimatec in Brazil, the one-meter-long flexible manipulator features a soft, bendy design that conforms to structures during contact and works by combining a flexible backbone with a system of tendon-like cables that control its movement, with special sensors helping it understand its position and shape underwater, allowing the robot to make precise movements even in turbulent conditions.
According to the UK’s National Robotarium, the technology addresses key challenges in offshore inspection, where subsea pipelines and equipment at depths reaching nearly 3,000 meters must be regularly checked to ensure safety and prevent costly failures.
Offshore energy companies, underwater inspection service providers, and operators of subsea infrastructure who conduct regular safety assessments are the primary targets of the technology.
Lucas Silva , Lead Researcher at SENAI CIMATEC, said: “We worked together with the National Robotarium to conceive an innovative take on underwater manipulation, opening up new use cases for the industry. This new branch of development represents an important and disruptive upgrade to our robotics development roadmap, and the seamless cooperation with The National Robotarium played a key role in this new achievement, setting new standards for future international partnerships.”
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The robot was designed and developed by engineers at the National Robotarium, the UK’s center for robotics and AI at Heriot-Watt University.
Tests conducted at the National Robotarium’s wave tank facility show the robot can position its tentacle-like arm with remarkable accuracy and maintain stability when subjected to external forces of up to 300g. Even when intentionally disturbed, it can correct its position and return to the desired state within seconds – a crucial capability for operation in unpredictable ocean environments, the National Robotarium said.
“Our team has taken this innovative underwater robot from initial concept through design and development to successful testing in real-world conditions,” said Rowanne Miller , Project Manager at the National Robotarium.
“What makes this particularly exciting is that we’ve created a solution that doesn’t just incrementally improve existing technology – it fundamentally changes how we can approach underwater inspection tasks, opening up new possibilities for safer, more precise interaction with critical subsea infrastructure and potentially transforming how we maintain and protect our offshore assets for decades to come.”