By Liu Qian, the Journalist

In the laboratory of Hubei Feiyin Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Feiyin AeroTech”) in Xiangyang, Hubei Province, a team of young engineers with an average age of just 25 has been working around the clock to achieve a breakthrough in the core technologies of an “air-water-submersible” three-domain collaborative intelligent aquatic system — the first of its kind in China — injecting vibrant youthful energy into the development of Xiangyang’s low-altitude economy.

On March 30, at the Xiangcheng District Human Resources Service Industrial Park, the journalist met with Feiyin AeroTech’s General Manager Jiang Yusheng and Product Manager Xue Rongzhi. Having returned from overseas studies just last year, the two quickly identified persistent pain points in traditional aquatic operations.

“Fishermen and anglers mostly rely on experience and fish blindly, which is highly inefficient. Water conservancy surveying and aquatic inspections, meanwhile, face challenges such as high equipment costs, steep operational barriers, and the formation of data silos. Existing drones and unmanned surface vessels tend to operate independently, making cross-medium collaborative operations extremely difficult,” said Jiang Yusheng.

At the time, they learned that Xiangyang was accelerating the development of its low-altitude economy, with pressing demand for intelligent unmanned systems in areas such as emergency rescue and urban governance. “Air-water-submersible” three-domain collaboration, they saw, represented an entirely new track in this vast industrial blue ocean.

With this direction in their sights, Feiyin AeroTech’s team launched an all-out technological push. After countless days and nights of effort, they successfully broke through the constraints of physical boundaries, developing China’s first “air-water-submersible” three-domain collaborative intelligent aquatic system.

“This system integrates an underwater submersible, an unmanned surface vessel, a drone, and an intelligent control terminal, building a real-time, full-coverage intelligent operations platform that opens new pathways for the digitalization and intelligent upgrading of regional aquatic operations,” said Jiang Yusheng. The system, he explained, effectively equips aquatic operations with a “FAST” and “photoscope,” elevating unmanned devices from isolated operations to coordinated system-level operations and rendering the previously unfathomable underwater world clear and visible. “Specifically, the system builds an integrated platform with a complete ‘three-terminal-one-hub’ architecture, in which each device performs its designated role and operates in efficient coordination, forming a closed-loop operational system.”

Within this architecture, the underwater submersible serves as the “eye beneath the surface,” using multi-frequency sonar recognition and high-definition low-light imaging technology to enable intelligent fish detection and three-dimensional terrain mapping; it can also be equipped with a targeted bait-delivery module to enhance the recreational fishing experience. The unmanned surface vessel handles communication relay, precise positioning, and energy replenishment, resolving the challenge of underwater signal transmission and providing operational support for submerged devices. The drone enables panoramic monitoring of the operational area and real-time display of device status, while also performing cross-media signal relay to extend signal coverage significantly. The intelligent App and cloud platform serve as the core decision-making hub, enabling simultaneous monitoring of underwater footage and aerial overhead views on a single screen, generating visualized fish-school heat maps, supporting one-tap route planning for fleet deployment, and achieving millisecond-level synchronized decision-making across vessel, shore, and mobile terminals.

Building on this technological breakthrough, Feiyin AeroTech has mapped out a “dual-engine” business model that precisely addresses both consumer and industrial markets, aligning with the diverse application scenarios of Xiangyang’s low-altitude economy.

“For the broad consumer market, the system uses AI-powered fish recognition and intelligent fishing spot recommendations to fundamentally transform the tradition of ‘blind fishing,’ greatly enhancing the enjoyment and efficiency of recreational angling. For industrial applications — including aquaculture, water conservancy projects, environmental monitoring, and emergency rescue — it can efficiently handle complex tasks such as cage inspections, dam structure assessments, pollution source identification, and underwater search and rescue, driving cost reduction and efficiency gains in traditional aquatic operations through digital means,” said Jiang Yusheng.

To consolidate its developmental foundation, Feiyin AeroTech has built multiple layers of core competitive advantages. Beyond achieving genuine physical collaboration across the “air-water-submersible” three domains, the company has established a full-chain closed loop from data acquisition to intelligent decision-making. To address the various risks inherent in entrepreneurial development, the team has adopted modular design to lower equipment barriers, prioritized completion of industry compliance certifications, mapped out a clear technology iteration roadmap, and continuously optimized cross-medium communication technology — steadily advancing product deployment and market expansion on the strength of solid technical capabilities.