2 | Wednesday, December 21, 2022
PAGE TWO
Top and above: Corals growing
on a 3D-printed reef tile. photos
provided to china daily
From page 1
Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligence
Technology has been focusing on
manufacturing multifunctional
unmanned boats and above-water
robots for more than a decade. The
company sells over 30 types of
unmanned boats and rescue
robots for use in environmental
monitoring, marine surveys, and
patrols and lifesaving missions on
water.
The electrically powered device
can travel over water at three
meters per second, carry a maxi-
mum weight of 150 kilograms, and
operate for 30 minutes on a full
charge, according to the company.
The robot’s controller resembles
a pistol, with a screen displaying
the device’s speed, battery level
and other data. Holding the con-
troller, rescue workers command
the robot via microwaves, and it
can be used for rescue work up to
800 meters offshore.
Those rescued at sea by the
device can either climb onto the
robot or grab handles installed on
its body to be taken back to shore.
The device weighs 13.75 kg, and
it can be carried on a rescue work-
er’s back. Rescuers can also install
cameras and microphones to com-
municate with victims in real time,
and small searchlights can be
attached to the robot for work dur-
ing darkness.
In addition to rescue robots, the
Zhuhai company’s unmanned
boats have been used for scientific
research and maritime security
work in recent years.
In November 2017, China’s polar
research vessel the Xue Long, or
Snow Dragon, was equipped with
a survey boat manufactured by the
company, which carried out sea-
bed surveys in waters off Antarcti-
ca. Patrol boats developed by the
company also took part in an anti-
smuggling exercise in Lianyun-
gang, Jiangsu province, in
September the following year.
Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligence
Technology boasts a team of more
than 300 developers and has over
400 registered patents for
Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligence Technology, headquartered in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, focuses on manufacturing multifunctional unmanned boats and above-water robots.
Marine: Labs advance
research efforts
unmanned boats and robots,
according to Lin Bingsen, the com-
pany’s manager for South and
Southwest China.
In addition to customers from
the Chinese mainland, Lin said the
Water Supplies Department in the
Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region, the Macao SAR Marine and
Water Bureau, and universities in
the two cities have bought the com-
pany’s unmanned boats for water
quality testing and scientific
research. The company has also
sold nearly 1,000 rescue robots such
as the Dolphin 1 to more than 40
overseas countries and regions, Lin
added.
The collective effect of high-quali-
ty scientific research talent and
resources of the GBA is key to such
innovative efforts.
The development team at Zhuhai
Yunzhou Intelligence Technology
includes talent from the mainland
and Hong Kong, and many of the
company’s employees have either
worked or studied in Hong Kong.
The company was founded by two
graduates from Hong Kong Univer-
sity of Science and Technology, or
HKUST, in 2010. Their Hong Kong
connections helped them tap the
resources of the city’s science sector.
Joint laboratories have been set
by the company with Hong Kong’s
universities, especially HKUST, to
advance research on robotic materi-
als, communication technologies
and energy over the past few years.
Tech ‘windows’
With mainland companies tap-
ping Hong Kong’s scientific
research resources to develop their
marine technology products, the
city’s marine scientists view cities in
the Greater Bay Area as “windows”
for technology commercialization.
In 2016, a research team from
HKUST developed a butenolide
antifouling coating for vessels and
fishing nets that resulted in reduced
toxicity to the marine environment.
The university listed the product as
a key technology transfer project.
Three years later, two companies
in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, both
funded by HKUST, won the exclu-
sive right to this technology. They
were chosen because they were con-
sidered the best candidates to use
the GBA’s industrial chain to propel
the antifouling coating’s commer-
cialization.
Traditionally, this coating is
applied to vessels to prevent marine
organisms and microbes from cling-
ing to their hulls at sea.
Ma Ye, CEO of Ocean Science
(Hong Kong), one of the companies
that obtained HKUST’s license, said
toxic materials are traditionally
added to the antifouling coating to
kill organisms and microbes
attached to the hull. She added that
these toxins are released into the
Divers transplant corals onto the 3D-printed reef tiles produced by
Archireef, a Hong Kong startup. provided to china daily
The environmentally friendly antifouling
coating has broad market prospects, as
more people in China realize the
importance of protecting the marine
environment.”
Ma Ye, CEO of Ocean Science (Hong Kong)
ocean, polluting the water and
marine life.
However, without an antifouling
coating, marine organisms easily
attach themselves to the hull of a
vessel, slowing its speed by up to 30
percent and increasing its fuel con-
sumption by a maximum of 40 per-
cent, which in turn impact the cost
of marine transportation, Ma said.
The team from HKUST uses bio-
logical methods and compounds
extracted from deep-sea microbes to
prevent organisms from attaching
themselves to ships’ hulls or other
objects in the water. The scientific
discoveries behind this technology
won the university a second prize at
the 2016 National Natural Science
Awards.
Ma and her colleagues also
refined the technology and applied
it to fishing nets. She said tradition-
al antifouling coatings are usually
developed for hard materials such
as steel, aluminum alloy and glass
fiber that are commonly used to
build ship’s hulls, but marine life
also attaches itself to items such as
fishing nets.
When organisms grow on top of a
fishing net, they reduce the
exchange of water and oxygen and
harm the catch, Ma said. But as anti-
fouling coatings are generally toxic,
they are inappropriate for use on
such nets, as the coating will harm
fish and other creatures in the net,
she added.
For fish to survive longer in the
nets, they are often fed antibiotics,
which may harm the health and
quality of the fish, as well as those
consuming them, Ma said.
Developing coatings for items
such as fishing nets is a new chal-
HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY
lenge for Ma and her team. The aim
is to strengthen the coating’s flexi-
bility and adhesion so that it does
not easily flake off the net, Ma said.
Ocean Science has research and
development bases in Zhuhai and
Shenzhen, Guangdong. Ma said the
GBA’s mature industrial chain
makes it easier to produce coatings
and conduct experiments.
“The environmentally friendly
antifouling coating has broad mar-
ket prospects, as more people in
China realize the importance of pro-
tecting the marine environment,”
Ma added.
Currently, 1 kg of the antifouling
coating produced by Ma’s company
costs thousands of yuan, far more
expensive than a traditional coating
that costs several hundred yuan per
kg.
The initial cost of the coating was
more than 10,000 yuan ($1,436) per
kilogram, significantly inhibiting its
application in the market. Ma’s next
step is to further reduce the cost by
improving the manufacturing pro-
cess.
More efforts
Some companies are stepping up
efforts to return life to marine
waters.
For example, Archireef, a Hong
Kong startup produces 3D-printed
reefs to help coral that has lost its
habitat to human activities.
Vriko Yu, the company’s
co-founder and CEO, said artificial
coral reefs on the market are mainly
made from concrete, which com-
pared with seawater, has a much
higher pH value — a measurement
of the acidity or alkalinity of a solu-
tion based on the amount of hydro-
gen in the water. As a result,
concrete is unsuitable for the
growth of marine life.
Yu’s company makes reef tiles
from clay soil, the pH value of which
is closer to that of the marine envi-
ronment. The developers add fea-
tures to these artificial tiles via 3D
printing technology. For instance,
tiles printed by using such technolo-
gy have intricate ridges that resem-
ble the structure of real reefs.
In addition, three supports raise
the reef tiles above ground, protect-
ing coral from being eroded by sedi-
ment on the seabed.
The 3D-printed reef tiles have
been installed at locations in Hong
Kong such as Hoi Ha Wan Marine
Park and Deep Water Bay to help
restore the ecosystem and coral.
In September, Archireef estab-
lished a branch in Abu Dhabi, Unit-
ed Arab Emirates, and applied such
tiles to local marine conservation.
Last year, the output value of
Guangdong’s marine-related indus-
tries reached 1.99 trillion yuan,
ranking first on the Chinese main-
land for 27 consecutive years,
according to the Guangdong Marine
provided to china daily
Top and above: “Dolphin 1”, the
rescue robot, travels over water at
three meters per second. photos
provided to china daily
Economy Development Report
(2022).
Shenzhen, the GBA’s power-
house, has been home to China’s
largest marine exhibition, the Chi-
na Marine Economy Expo, since
2019. This year, more than 1,000
exhibitors and 300 industrial lead-
ers from home and abroad took
part in the expo, discussing and
exchanging their views on the GBA
and the nation’s marine economy.
Experts said at the expo that as
long as scientific research and col-
laborative regional innovation
continues to be strengthened in
the GBA, marine technology com-
panies will find a broader stage for
development and make a greater
contribution to the Chinese
marine economy.
Meanwhile, Zhuhai Yunzhou
Intelligence Technology is devel-
oping a new system that allows
rescue workers to complete their
tasks without getting their feet
wet.
The system comprises a network
of security cameras, lifesaving
equipment storage boxes, and res-
cue robots such as the Dolphin 1.
The surveillance cameras identify
people in danger in the water and
send warnings back to a central
control room. Staff members in the
control room then open an equip-
ment storage box placed nearby
through remote control, activate a
robot in the box and send it to
locate and help those in trouble in
the sea.
The system was first used in
Zhuhai a few months ago. Despite
the short time it has been in use, it
has received a good response from
many mainland companies and
local governments, according to
Lin, the company’s manager for
South and Southwest China. He
added that the system will next be
installed at Yantian Port, Shenz-
hen.
People making a living from the
sea are wise to be wary of nature,
but marine technology such as the
Dolphin 1 takes inspiration from
marine life to save humans. It also
helps us better understand nature
to protect marine fauna and flora.