PATANIA ONE sits in a large shed on the outskirts of Antwerp. Green and cuboid, with an interior steel frame, rubberised treads and pressure-resistant electronic innards, it is about the size of a minivan. In May 2017 it became the first robot in 40 years to be lowered to the sea floor in the Clarion Clipperton Zone (ccz), about 5,000 metres beneath the Pacific ocean near where the Jasper did her pioneering sonar work. There it gathered data about the seabed and how larger robots might move carefully across it, sucking up valuable minerals en route.
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