China Creates Soft-Body Robot Fish
Credit: Pixabay
A team of researchers from Harbin Engineering University has created a soft, fish-like robot that can swim using the force of seawater. This allows the robot to withstand high pressures; such as those found in the deepest parts of the oceans.
The robot is about 32 cm long and weighs about 670 g. Scientists have used a new electrohydraulic system in it, abandoning the bulky rigid engines used in conventional underwater vehicles. Flexible structures are located on the sides of the silicone body, which, using natural ions of sea water, create an electric field. This field makes a special liquid inside the body move from side to side, setting the robot in motion like a real fish.
The design allows the device to withstand extreme conditions and high pressure at great depths. Thanks to the liquid inside the body and the flexible structure, the pressure is balanced automatically. During field tests, the robot dived to a depth of 4,000 m. In laboratory conditions, it passed tests at a pressure equivalent to a depth of 10,000 m and a temperature of up to 2 °C. For comparison, the deepest place in the ocean – the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench – is at a depth of 10,935 m.
Equipped with a camera and optical sensors, the robotic fish is well suited for stealth reconnaissance and biodiversity studies in previously inaccessible deep-sea environments.
