Nature continues to supply models for robots. RobotNext found this article on robot jellyfish. Many robot builders are modeling every type of motion nature provides. Jellyfish use a unique swimming motion to achieve their flowing, pulsing motion.
So now to the basic story. Two Korean researchers have developed a robot that swims like a jellyfish. Engineers Sung-Weon Yeom and Il-Kwon Oh from Chonnam National University in the Republic of Korea explain in an article at PhysOrg.com that "Jellyfish are one of the most awesome marine animals, doing a spectacular and psychedelic dance in water." A special type of polymer that imitates muscle movement was used in the design of this jellyfish robot. The article goes on to state that “advances in electro-active polymers (EAP) enabled them to achieve this biomimetic swimming behavior in a robot.”
Image Credit: Yeom and Oh. (PhysOrg.com)
(Left) A living jellyfish and (right) a jellyfish robot made of electro-active polymer artificial muscle. Both jellyfish move by contracting the bell to generate a pulsating motion. — "Jellyfish are one of the most …
Sung-Weon Yeom and Il-Kwon Oh. “A biomimetic jellyfish robot based on ionic polymer metal composite actuators.” Smart Mater. Struct. 18 (2009) 085002 (10pp).
Jellyfish Robot Swims Like its Biological Counterpart – PhysOrg
Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:30:00 GMT
