Underwater exploring robots have been around for decades, but not many are capable of withstanding the strong currents of the sea floor. This means the use of these robotic swimmers are quite limited, but everything could change for the better if this crab looking robot becomes a success story.

Korean Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), has been working on this robot for the last two years, and is finally ready to test it in a deep-sea adventure. According to the team behind the design, the robot is called the Crabster CR200, and it is mainly designed to study zones of scientific interest and shipwrecks. Furthermore, the Crabster CR200 is built like a tank since it is capable of diving under 200 meters of turbulent coastal waters; this is where currents are too dangerous for humans to dive.

When you take a close look at the Crabster CR200, you’ll notice it has 6 Crab like legs. These legs allow the robot to navigate the sea floor easily within the strong currents. Furthermore, the two front legs also act as arms to cut and pick things up from the sea floor or from shipwrecks. It’s pretty astonishing what the Crabster CR200 is capable of doing, it makes you wonder of the future of robotics in the next 50 years.

Apart from using its legs to do trivial things, the Crabster CR200 also comes packed with a blowtorch for those hard to remove metallic objects. There’s also 10 optical cameras surrounding this thing, and it is able to hover above the sea floor with its thrusters.

Future versions of the Crabster CR200 should see it lose the cord that attaches the robot to the surface for power. In addition, upgrades will make it able to dive 6,000 meters along with the ability to swim like a sea Turtle. Picture this in your mind, a crab-like looking robot swimming underwater like a Turtle; science does these kind of things all the time.

First real world test will come next month; we hope to have more information on that event.

[via Mechatronic]