Its no secret that when it comes to scientific innovation, products of nature have had millions of years of development. Engineers are becoming quite aware of this. A perfect example is the simple and efficient propulsion method behind the jellyfish. Natures elegance is being replicated by Yonas Tadesse and his team at the University of Texas at Dallas and VirginiaTech . The Robojelly is born.
Robojelly is made from shape-memory alloy that returns to its original shape. When bent can be arranged to mimic the jellyfish propulsion movements. Robojelly is made up of eight moving segments covered in carbon nanotubes and coated with a platinum powder. The platinum powder is needed to chemically react with the hydrogen and oxygen in the water to create the heat that powers the Robojelly. The heat causes the alloy to change shape and repetition causes the jellyfish-like movement and propulsion. Tadesse, who is leading the creation of this robot announced, “to our knowledge this is the first successful powering of an underwater using external hydrogen as the fuel source.”
The robot holds high hopes for use in under water exploration, search and rescue operations, and surveillance. However, it still has a long way to go before it can be used. Current design restrictions limit the robot to move up only. The team is looking for methods to deliver hydrogen to specific parts of the robot independently, so it can eventually move in 3 dimensions.
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