Cetacean
Exploring China’s Atlantis: A Digital Twin and Underwater Exploration System
Inspired by the hidden beauty of Qiandao Lake’s submerged Lion City, this project aims to bridge the gap between history and modern technology. The challenge lies in making this cultural heritage accessible without disturbing its delicate underwater ecosystem. To address this, I designed an underwater exploration system combining a submersible equipped with sensors and cameras with a digital twin system for remote monitoring and interaction. This approach allows users to explore the underwater city virtually while also enabling researchers to collect real-time hydrological and topographical data, ensuring both preservation and discovery.
Qingdao Lake & The Lion City
Background Research
The “Lion City” is a cultural heritage that has preserved the functional pattern of the village for a long time. The reasons why it is not open to public are listed below:
2003 – The Archimedes Bridge: uses buoyant force to float in the water. However, it is extremely difficult to build and is still in the testing phase.
2004 – “Tianqing” Tourist Submarine: Water currents cause damage to old buildings, leading to denial of submarine launching approvals.
Outer waterproof wall: The current wall cannot withstand water pressure. Constructing a new one is too costly.
Diving visit: Since the area is protected, divers require a diving license and approval from the relevant authorities.
Relevant Case Studies
I researched and analyzed relevant examples of underwater operations to further design the form of the final product.
Private Submarine:
Advantage: Electrically powered-sails without loud noise and currents
Disadvantage: Extremely expensive
Scuba Dive:
Advantage: 3D Visualization Scanning-Scene Retrospective
Disadvantage: For divers only
Underwater Floating
Advantage: Underwater sensors that can monitor water quality
Disadvantage: Too complicated to operate
Fish Robots:
Advantage: Robotics for undeerwater motion photography
Disadvantage: Requires a wired cable connection
Survey
Based on the results, older people had the highest levels of interest in underwater heritage. The last group of teenagers aged 13-17 years mostly did not care about underwater heritage, such results are expected. However, these teenagers indicated that they would be interested in exploring the underwater city through tours. Overall, older individuals are quite concerned about the heritage of the underwater city and are open to learning more about it. Equally, they are relatively certain that digital technology would play a significant part in the cultural heritage preservation of the city.
Design Goals and Concept
I aim to leverage digital technology to explore underwater ancient cities while preserving their remains and ecosystem, making their history more accessible to a wider audience.
- Non-Intrusive Exploration:
- Ensure the system does not disturb the underwater ecosystem or damage historical ruins.
- Real-Time Monitoring:
- Enable remote observation and control through a digital twin system with real-time data visualization.
- Accurate Data Collection:
- Use advanced sensors and cameras to capture high-resolution images, hydrological data, and topographical details.
- Immersive User Experience:
- Develop an interactive 3D virtual environment that allows users to explore the city digitally.
- Cultural Heritage Preservation:
- Provide researchers and the public with a means to study and appreciate the site without physical intervention.
- Scalability and Modularity:
- Design the system to be adaptable for future upgrades and applications in other underwater heritage sites.
- User Accessibility:
- Make the experience available to a broad audience, including researchers, educators, and the general public.
- Sustainability and Longevity:
- Use durable materials and energy-efficient technology to ensure long-term operation.
- Seamless Integration:
- Ensure smooth communication between the underwater machine, sensors, and the digital twin interface.
- Educational and Awareness Focused:
- Promote awareness of underwater heritage and environmental conservation through interactive storytelling.
Mechanics Concept
A master-slave mechanism that contains a parent-machine as the ground basement and multiple sub-machines as data acquisition devices will be used. This will maximize the efficiency of the data transmission process.
Underwater Mechanics:
Underwater scientific research: Sensor scanning
Field Exploration: Underwater data transmission
Underwater sightseeing tours: Underwater photography
The Digital Twin System:
Remote control of underwater mechanics: A set of UI interfaces for connecting and operatinf the machine
Real-time display of hydrological data detected by underwater mechanics: Online observation
Digital underwater scenes (UE5): Real-time water flow, generates topography, cultural heritage reconstruction
Workflow
Modeling
Using the ESP32 as a microcontroller to make the prototype, I created a PCB board that can be connected to various sensors. The UDP protocol allows the user to transfer underwater hardware through commands.
Target Functions:
Underwater topography acquisition
Hydrological data acquisition (water temperature, water conductivity)
Real-time positioning (gps)
Image acquisition transmission
Transmission /sd card local storage
Water temperature: 0-40 °C
Maximum depth 20-30M
Cruising speed: 0.1m/s
Structure
The parent machine keeps running on the surface of the water powered by electric solar panels. A built-in communication module ensures stable data transmission.
Digital Twin System
The digital scene refers to the layout of the ancient Lion City from the 1890 AD, recreating the structures of the “Pai Fang”, also called “memorial arch”. In this process, I used Blender to build up the building model and imported it into Unreal Engine 5 for texture rendering.
The real-time hydrological data will change the visual effects within the scene, which allows the user to know the changes in the environment more intuitively, meanwhile, receives reflection of the underwater environment and the preservation of ancient city ruins.
Receiving hydrological information
Sending hydrological information
User Interface Design
Home page with initial interface buttons and tables of real-time hydrological data.
Joystick Interface: The user can control the drone to move freely underwater via a virtual joystick. The interface generates and presents digital scenes and underground terrains.
Synchronized Operation Testing
Final Work
Water temperature: determines the color temperature of the scene from cool to warm
Home Page
Camera
The proposed digital technology will revolutionize the exploration and preservation of Lion City by enabling non-intrusive mapping, remote monitoring, and virtual tours. Researchers can study the city’s ruins without physical interference, while high-resolution imaging and real-time data collection help prevent environmental damage. Virtual experiences will make this submerged wonder accessible to a global audience, raising awareness of its cultural significance and the importance of conservation. As we continue to explore China’s Atlantis, we must balance innovation with preservation, ensuring this historical treasure remains protected for future generations.