The dome is used to safeguard the front end of the robot to facilitate its operation in extreme underwater circumstances. The front dome of the deep-sea robot is engineered to confront the pressure and corrosiveness of the deep-sea environment.
Owing to the extreme pressure of the deep-sea setting and the highly corrosive nature of seawater, the front section of the robot demands special protection. The dome configuration can effectively withstand the high pressure of the deep sea, concurrently prevent the ingress of seawater and corrosive substances, and safeguard the mechanical and electronic apparatuses inside the robot from damage. This design enables the deep-sea robot to operate stably in the extreme underwater environment, to undertake scientific research, exploration, mining, and other tasks.
Additionally, the dome design also takes into account the particular challenges of the deep-sea environment, such as the thermal expansion and contraction of materials resulting from temperature variations, and the impact of seawater corrosion and deep-sea pressure on the robot. By employing special materials and reinforcing methods, it ensures the "structural seal" of the robot in an extremely cold environment, thereby ensuring the stability and reliability of the robot in a complex environment.
For the dome used in deep-sea imaging and ROV, in addition to requiring high-precision surface accuracy, it must also withstand a certain water pressure.
The BENA Optics team, while continuously improving the surface accuracy, improves the customer's design, selects materials accurately, and enhances the surface strength through physical annealing. At present, the Bena optics’ dome can reach the deepest depth of 3000m.
Structure | Hemisphere/hyper-hemisphere |
Material | Fused silica/Borosilicate |
Diameter | Ø60mm-Ø230mm |
Diameter tolerance | ±0.1mm |
Thickness tolerance | +0.0mm/-0.1mm |
Surface quality | 20/10 |
Surface accuracy | 10 (3) |
Coating | AR Coating and waterproof coating |
Strengthened via heat treatment (tempering) |