The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Aug. 11, 2026

Filed:

Mar. 27, 2023
Applicant:

Impossible Metals Inc., San Jose, CA (US);

Inventors:

Oliver Gunasekara, San Jose, CA (US);

Jason Gillham, San Jose, CA (US);

Assignee:

Impossible Metals Inc., San Jose, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
E21C 50/00 (2006.01); B25J 5/00 (2006.01); B63G 8/00 (2006.01); B63G 8/38 (2006.01); B25J 9/00 (2006.01); B25J 15/00 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
E21C 50/00 (2013.01); B25J 5/00 (2013.01); B63G 8/001 (2013.01); B63G 8/38 (2013.01); B25J 9/003 (2013.01); B25J 15/00 (2013.01); B63G 2008/004 (2013.01); E21C 2200/00 (2023.05);
Abstract

A deep-sea mining apparatus for retrieving deep-sea nodules is provided. The deep-sea mining apparatus includes a buoyancy system, a payload hopper, an underwater autonomous vehicle (UAV), and a collector system. The collector system includes a controller system and a perception system communicatively coupled to the controller system and configured to track the deep-sea mining system as the deep-sea mining system hovers over ore nodules laying on a seabed. The collector system further includes one or more robotic arms controlled via the controller system, wherein each of the one or more robotic arms is attached to a bottom surface of the UAV and is equipped with a grasping mechanism configured to pick up the ore nodules from the seabed.


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