Atiny, jellyfish-like robot can swim like the real deal, carry beads, and burrow into a pile of beads. The robot has a soft body, is untethered, and measures 3 mm in width at its core. It has five swimming modes for which the time it takes for contraction and recovery movements of the appendages, called lappets, can be adjusted.
Z. Ren et al., “Multi-functional soft-bodied jellyfish-like swimming,” Nat Commun, doi:10.1038/s41467-019-10549-7, 2019.
Jellyfish-like robot swimming upwards while carrying beads
REN ET AL.
Jellyfish-like robot burrowing into beads and swimming back out
REN ET AL.
Chia-Yi Hou is an intern at The Scientist. Email her at chou@the-scientist.com.
Interested in reading more?
The Scientist ARCHIVES
Become a Member of
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
