A swimming device similar to the highly efficient method of sliding around moving underwater could be used to study coral reefs and archaeological sites.
Experts use a measure called the ‘cost of transport’ to compare the movement efficiency of different species from across the animal kingdom.
Studies like this have shown that nature has a more efficient movement – easily running out and flying bony animals and fish – like the moon snail, Aurelia aurita.
These soft-bodied creatures move by squeezing their bodies until they emit a water jet that moves them forward.
Inspired by this, engineers from Southampton and Edinburgh built a jet-driven robot that is about 10-50 times more efficient than their propeller-driven counterparts.
In addition, its lightweight construction and soft-bodied exterior would make it ideal for use in sensitive underwater environments – such as reefs and shipwrecks.
It would even be safe to work in swimming waters, the team said.
A swimming machine similar to the highly efficient method of sliding underwater movement could be used to study coral reefs and archaeological sites. Pictured: the robot in a tank
Experts use a measure called the ‘cost of transport’ to compare the movement efficiency of different species from across the animal kingdom. Studies like this have shown that the Aurelia aurita, pictured, is the most efficient movement in nature
Inspired by the Aurelia aurita spear, engineers from Southampton and Edinburgh built a jet-powered robot that is about 10-50 times more efficient than its propeller-driven counterparts.
‘The interest in organisms such as squid, slippery and octopuses has grown significantly,’ said paper author and engineer Francesco Giorgio-Serchi of the University of Edinburgh.
‘Because they’re very special because the lack of supportive skeletal structure doesn’t stop them from swimming in particular.’
‘Previous attempts to advance underwater robots with jetting systems have pushed water through a tight pipe,’ said paper co-author and naval architecture researcher Thierry Bujard, who built the machine- for a few months.
‘We wanted to advance it so we introduced elasticity and resonance to mimic biology,’ he continued.
Resettlement refers to the large vibrations that occur when a force is applied to an object at its frequency – as can be seen when an opera singer can break a glass with their voice just by singing at the very right note.
Injured by the robot, repositioning allows the robot to generate large jets of water to go on while using very little power.
The design features a rubber ball encircled by eight 3D-printed flexible ribbons, which together create what the researchers referred to as a portable bell. ‘
In the front part of the robot’s body is a small piston that taps the bell again – causing it to expand and then jump back, thus mimicking the body’s shape. moving spit and making water jets to push it forward.
When the piston is operating at the correct frequency – that is, the natural repositioning of the components of the robot – it can move beyond the lunar eclipse, covering a distance of one body length (10.5 inches, or 26.6 cm) per second.
The design features a rubber ball encircling eight 3D printed flexible ribbons, which together create what the researchers described as a ‘propulsive bell’.
‘The great thing about using repositioning is that we can achieve large vibrations of the moving bell with very little power,’ said the paper’s author Gabriel Weymouth of the University of Southampton.
‘We just have to push it out of shape and let the elasticity and inertia do the rest.’
This has allowed us to use the efficiency of movement with sea creatures that use jets for swimming. ‘
‘I was surprised by the results, I was confident the design would work – but the efficiency of the robot was much greater than I expected,’ Mr Bujard said.
In the front part of the robot’s body is a small piston that taps the bell over and over again – causing it to expand and then jump back, thus imitating it. as salivary bodies move and make water jets to push it forward.
‘In the last decade there has been an increase in research into flexible and biologically inspired robots – such as Boston Dynamic’s “Big Dog” – because they can be much more complex than robots business norm, ‘said Dr Weymouth.
This research shows that these concepts can be applied to underwater robots. There are still many challenges and exciting opportunities to explore with underwater robotic technologies.
‘We are now looking at extending the concept behind this robot to a fully automatic and autonomous underwater vehicle capable of sensing and navigating its environment, he concluded.
The full results of the study have been published in the journal Science Robotics.