The pick-up device, which is collecting manganese nodules, is one of the most important components of the collector (or miner). Three types of pick-up system have been suggested so far. They are mechanical, hydraulic and hybrid pick-up system. In this paper, the design and manufacturing process of hybrid pick-up system have been described. For the design of the pick-up system, tile subsystems have to be designed according to the predetermined environmental conditions and mining strategy. The pick-up system was composed of frame, scraper/conveyor belt, water jet and altitude control system. The manganese nodules are loosened and lifted by a pair of water jets and transported to the conveyor belt. The pick-up head was designed to maintain the altitude and attitude to the undulating seafloor. Two cylinders for motion control of the pick-up head an driven by hydraulic power. The hybrid pick-up model for the tank test was manufactured and has been proven to work properly. Also the hydraulic system for motion control of pick-up head has been shown to have good control capability to maintain the distance between pick-up head and sinusoidal bottom.
The collector (or miner) for deep sea mining is traveling on the seabed, collecting the manganese nodules and transporting the nodules to the lifting system. The collector, which consists of pick-up device and vehicle (or carrier), should have high reliability because it is operated at the deep seabed of 5000 m depth. The pick-up device is mounted in front of collector and its main function is to gather the nodules at the seabed. The pick-up efficiency of the pick-up system has an important effect on the total efficiency of the whole mining system. Therefore, the conceptual design of pick-up system bas the importance as a start point of development of whole mining system.
