A jellyfish moves using circular muscles in the inside of its umbrella-like bell. As the jellyfish contracts, the bell closes in on itself and ejects water to propel itself forward. When the muscles relax, the bell regains its original shape. By keeping that in mind, Engineers in the US have invented a hydrogen-powered robotic jellyfish that moves through water like a jellyfish. They call this Robojelly. As it is a hydrogen-powered robot, it will not run out of energy.
Scientific name of a jelly fish is Aurelia aurita. Robojelly is a biomimetic robot jellyfish. It is designed for underwater surveillance and rescue. The robot is now powered by hydrogen from the water. It reacts with platinum-coated carbon nanotubes on the flexible artificial ‘muscles’ to generate energy. It is needed for propulsion. The high level of energy efficient robot uses a bell. As the bell contracts and relaxes, it expels water to propel the body. See the video.
Mr Tadesse, the lead author of the study, said: “To our knowledge, this is the first successful powering of an underwater robot using external hydrogen as a fuel source.” The whole expenditure of this study was sponsored by the US Office of Naval Research.
Source : BBC
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