Tank Experiment of a Seabed Walking Platform Model for Subsea Mining Exploration

Abstract

In the near future, deep-sea mineral resource development will be possible to be commercialized. To minimize the CAPEX of the project, estimation of deposit quality is critically important and exploratory drilling is indispensable for estimating the amount of resources. To reduce the cost of exploratory drilling, we are going to develop a system of seabed drilling which can move on the seabed by itself without a support vessel on the sea. This exploration platform must be able to move along with the undulations of the seafloor and have a structure that supports the reaction force of the drilling. The authors have been studying an eight-legged drilling platform. This paper introduces our tank test system and some results of tank experiment.