Check out the “soft” AUV that a team of Chinese researchers have developed and tested in the Mariana Trench!
A BlueROV2 with Newton Gripper was used to release the little “mantabot” at depths of 8m and 70m during its testing phase, before the little flapper dove to 3,224m in the South China Sea and then 10,900m in the Mariana Trench.
Full article at: TechExplore 04mar21 and Nature.com