Polar Expedition Robot Swarm PolarForge Deployed in Antarctica: Full Automation from Ice Core Drilling to Weather Observation

China's Polar Research Center announced on July 17 that the PolarForge polar expedition robot swarm developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang Institute of Automation has been deployed at Zhongshan Station in Antarctica and has begun executing scientific missions. The system comprises 6 ground mobile robots, 2 ice core drilling robots, and 4 extreme-cold environment drones, capable of autonomous operation at temperatures as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius.

PolarForge's core breakthrough lies in its cold-resistant joint drive system and self-heating battery pack. Traditional robots experience joint lubricant solidification and lithium battery capacity collapse below minus 40 degrees. CAS Shenyang Institute's Biomimetic Robotics Lab director Han Jianda stated: "We drew inspiration from Antarctic fish antifreeze proteins to develop a phase-change-material-based joint self-lubrication system. Combined with carbon nanotube heating films, the robots can operate normally at minus 70 degrees."

During the two-month test period, PolarForge completed 3 ice core drillings exceeding 2,000 meters in depth, collected 127 ice, snow, and atmospheric samples, and transmitted environmental data every 15 minutes via onboard weather stations. These tasks would require 12 researchers working an entire summer if done manually.

China's Polar Research Center plans to deploy PolarForge at Kunlun Station by 2030 and develop derivative versions suitable for extreme environments on the Moon and Mars. The European Space Agency has expressed interest in collaborating on the system's space applications.