Excavation Experiment of Earth Worm Type Seabed Exploration Robot in Actual Sea Area

Abstract

The results of an excavation experiment in an actual sea area using the earth worm type seabed exploration robot are reported in this paper. The robot tested in the experiments is SEAVO II, which has been developed by the authors. Seawater-resistant processing was applied to the SEAVO II, and field experiments were conducted on the coast of Izu Oshima island. Four types of experiments were conducted: vertical excavation in sand, gravel, and water, and horizontal excavation in sand. In the vertical excavation on sand, the SEAVO II successfully excavated 490 mm, which is the same level as that of the previous studies. However, although the excavation was difficult and the excavating distance was limited to 100 mm or less for the other three conditions, the issues in each environment could be clarified.