US reveals robotic jellyfish

Robotic jellyfish Washington - Arabstoday Its name is Robojelly and the mass of carbon nanotubes and smart materials can swim under its own power, with a 'pulsing' movement that looks just like the real thing. More worryingly for robophobes, the robot jellyfish also never runs out of batteries. Thankfully, it's here to help mankind - at least in theory. The blob-like machine is designed to help with underwater rescues. Robojelly is able to mimic the natural movements of a jellyfish when placed in a water tank - and is powered by chemical reactions taking place on its surface. In real jellyfish, circles of muscles pulse to move the creature through the water. In Robojelly, carbon nanotubes wrapped around hi-tech 'shape memory' alloys (metals which 'pop' back to their original shape), achieve the same effect. The robot powers itself using reactions between oxygen and hydrogen in the water and the platinum on its surface. Robojelly can regenerate fuel from its natural surroundings and therefore doesn’t require an external power source or the constant replacement of batteries. At the moment, the hydrogen-powered Robojelly has been functioning whilst being clamped down in a water tank. ‘The current design allows the jellyfish to flex its eight bell segments, each operated by a fuel-powered SMA module. This should be sufficient for the jellyfish to lift itself up if all the bell segments are actuated. ‘We are now researching new ways to deliver the fuel into each segment so that each one can be controlled individually. This should allow the robot to be controlled and moved in different directions,’ said Virginia Tech's Yonas Tadesse.