IEEE Spectrum September, 2011 - 12

the funding for a vehicle's operation, and
scientists submit research proposals
to gain time on the sub. Construction
of the new Chinese institution, the
National Deep Sea Center, began on
the Shandong peninsula this year.
Despite having no experience in
manned submersibles, the researchers
began in 2002 to design a world-beating
vehicle that could withstand pressures
of 71 megapascals, or about 700 times
atmospheric pressure. They took a
slow and steady approach. When, after
two years of sketching and planning,
they had a preliminary design, they
built a full-scale mock-up out of wood
and steel to make sure all the planned
components would actually fit together.
The first sea trials of the Jiaolong
didn't take place until the summer of
2009, after years of testing the sub and
its components in pressure vessels
and water tanks. This first 1000-meter
dive had an ominous start: The mother
ship had to take shelter in a harbor

Tattoo You

Scientists and engineers in China,
Singapore, and the United States
have developed a temporary tattoo-
like electronic device capable of
sensing electrical signals such as
brain waves and muscle activity
and then transmitting the data. To
make the epidermal electronics,
they used techniques pioneered at
the University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign, that allow the printing
of inorganic semiconductors and
metal interconnects on stretchable
surfaces. The patch sticks to the
skin for up to 24 hours, even
without glue, and it draws all its
power from a mix of induction and
small embedded solar cells.
12

NA * Ieee Spectrum * September 2011

flag day: In a July 2010 dive, Jiaolong stuck
a chinese flag 3759 meters under the sea.
Photo: Xinhua news aGenCy/eyevine/reduX

while a typhoon roared by. But Cui was
determined to push the trial through
and insisted on heading back to sea
despite the high waves. "We had a
group of the engineers who were
prepared to dive, but some of them
had fear, and some got seasick," Cui
remembers with a laugh. "In order to
release their fear, I decided to dive-
to show the confidence of the designer!"
If the Jiaolong proves itself at the
7000-meter dive next year, it will be
ready to begin its work in earnest. But
its primary task, mineral exploration,
can best be accomplished if it is working
in cooperation with unmanned vehicles,
says Susan Humphris, who's leading
an upgrade to Alvin at Woods Hole.
"You could have an AUV [autonomous
underwater vehicle] that surveys
a large part of the ocean floor, and
you could then home in on specific
sites where the submersible can dive
and take samples," she says. In fact,
Cui has plans that include several
unmanned vehicles as well as a new
manned sub, both rated for 4500 meters.
These vehicles can be the workhorses
of the underwater fleet, Cui says,
while the Jiaolong can take on more
challenging missions at greater depths.
When this high-tech fleet is in
operation, the science can really start.
"The Chinese government's mission
is to push forward the technology,"
says Cui. It's his mission to keep that
technology out of the warehouses, and
in the sea.
-Eliza Strickland
spectrum.ieee.org

John roGers

Cui explained the difficult history of
China's undersea-vehicle program.
In the 1980s and 1990s the researchers
built both remotely operated and
autonomous underwater vehicles
capable of reaching depths of up to
6000 meters. But, Cui notes ruefully,
those vehicles were never put into
operation. "In China, in the past, there
was government funding to develop the
technology," he says, "but there was no
actual requirement for use." After these
vehicles successfully completed their sea
trials, they were stowed in warehouses.
For the Jiaolong, the researchers
vowed, it would be different. In 2000
they submitted the proposal for a
7000-meter manned submersible to the
China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D
Association, a government agency. They
also won government support for a new
national organization modeled on the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
in Massachusetts. In this model, the
national government provides most of
http://spectrum.ieee.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum September, 2011
