DEEP Robotics Deploys Robot Dog in Ailao Mountains Expedition

DEEP Robotics has deployed its Lynx M20S wheeled-legged robot in the Ailao Mountains, a region stretching for hundreds of kilometers along the eastern edge of the Hengduan Mountains in southwestern China. The Ailao Mountains are known for their extensive subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests and rich biodiversity, making them ideal for ecological research. However, the terrain poses significant challenges, with steep slopes, fallen trees, tangled vines, and slippery moss that can slow progress and increase risks for researchers.

The Lynx M20S, designed to navigate such environments, assisted researchers in route reconnaissance, wildlife observation, visual documentation, and supply transport. The robot's wheeled-legged design allows it to switch movement modes according to the terrain, with wheels supporting efficient travel along passable forest paths and muddy streambanks, and articulated legs helping it negotiate fallen timber and uneven rocky ground. This flexibility proved invaluable for researchers, who could scout unfamiliar sections ahead of the team before entering potentially hazardous areas.

Navigating the Ailao Mountains' rapid weather changes and dense forest presented another challenge. Conditions can change quickly, with rain, fog, and thunderstorms developing with little warning, and temperatures falling from the mid-20s Celsius to single digits, a change of more than 10°C. The Lynx M20S, with its IP67 ingress-protection rating and operating temperature range of −30°C to 55°C, was well-equipped to handle these conditions. Its wide-angle camera provided live footage to researchers' devices, allowing them to inspect obstacles and terrain beyond their immediate view. This scouting-first approach gave the team additional information before moving forward, potentially reducing exposure to unseen hazards.

The Ailao Mountains provide habitat for species that can be difficult to observe at close range. The western black-crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor) lives in old-growth forests at elevations of approximately 2,200-2,900 meters. These canopy-dwelling primates are sensitive to human activity, so researchers must balance the need for close observation with the risk of disturbing natural behavior. With a relatively compact profile and low operating noise, the robot offered an alternative observation platform to a group of people approaching on foot. Its imaging equipment supported upward and side-angle filming from the forest floor, helping the team document gibbons moving, foraging, and calling in the canopy. During the expedition, researchers were able to move an observation point approximately 20 meters closer, obtaining filming angles that had previously been difficult to access.

The Ailao Mountains also present challenges for botanical surveys. Dense understory vegetation often conceals plants from researchers standing above it. By moving close to the forest floor, the robot helped document vegetation hidden behind branches and leaves. During the expedition, it captured footage of Monotropa uniflora, commonly called ghost pipe, a mycoheterotrophic plant that can be difficult to spot in the wild. Its aboveground growth is visible for only about 40 days a year, making opportunistic observations valuable for subsequent study.

Transporting equipment is another persistent challenge in remote field research. Forest covers approximately 85.1% of the Ailao Mountains, and vehicles cannot reach many sites. Teams often carry monitoring instruments, cameras, and essential supplies over uneven ground. The Lynx M20S has a specified continuous payload capacity of 35 kg and can accompany researchers across mixed terrain while carrying equipment. In practice, this can reduce the load carried by individual team members and leave more time and energy for observation and data collection. Researchers moved through the forest alongside the Lynx M20S, which carried up to 35 kg of equipment.

Reaching remote sites can involve several hours of trekking, making endurance and battery management important. The Lynx M20S offers up to 3.5 hours of operation while carrying a payload, according to its stated specifications, and uses hot-swappable batteries that can be replaced without powering down the robot. During fieldwork, the platform alternated between assisting with filming at observation sites and carrying equipment as the team moved between locations.

The Ailao Mountains expedition brought together three practical applications of mobile robotics: scouting difficult routes, gathering images from hard-to-reach viewpoints, and transporting supplies. Together, these functions helped researchers work in terrain where conventional field methods can be physically demanding. The deployment is part of DEEP Robotics' broader exploration of robots for environmental fieldwork, with similar projects at Zhuonai Lake in Hoh Xil, aboard the research vessel Sun Yat-sen University Polar for performance testing on Arctic sea ice, and at Serling Tso, where robotic filming supported observations of Tibetan antelopes migrating, nursing, and foraging. These deployments span forests, high-altitude grasslands, and polar environments, each presenting different mobility and observation challenges.