A versatile jellyfish-like robotic platform for effective underwater propulsion and manipulation.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37043565.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adg0292 and PMC identifier 10096580.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Underwater devices are critical for environmental applications. However, existing prototypes typically use bulky, noisy actuators and limited configurations. Consequently, they struggle to ensure noise-free and gentle interactions with underwater species when realizing practical functions. Therefore, we developed a jellyfish-like robotic platform enabled by a synergy of electrohydraulic actuators and a hybrid structure of rigid and soft components. Our 16-cm-diameter noise-free prototype could control the fluid flow to propel while manipulating objects to be kept beneath its body without physical contact, thereby enabling safer interactions. Its against-gravity speed was up to 6.1 cm/s, substantially quicker than other examples in literature, while only requiring a low input power of around 100 mW. Moreover, using the platform, we demonstrated contact-based object manipulation, fluidic mixing, shape adaptation, steering, wireless swimming, and cooperation of two to three robots. This study introduces a versatile jellyfish-like robotic platform with a wide range of functions for diverse applications.