Most underwater robots use one of two ways of acquiring around. Way one is with propellers, and way two is with fins. But animals have revealed us that there are lots of more kinds of underwater locomotion, possibly providing unique benefits to robots. We’ll take a look at two papers from ICRA this year that showed bioinspired underwater robots shifting in creative new ways: A jet-powered squid robot that can leap out of the water, plus a robotic scallop that moves just like the real thing.
 
This “squid-like aquatic-aerial vehicle” from Beihang University in China is modeled after flying squids. Real squids, in addition to being scrumptious, propel themselves using water jets, and these jets are mighty enough that some squids can not only jump out of the water, but actually attain controlled flight for a brief period by continuous to jet while in the air. The flight phase is extended through the use of fins as arms and wings to create a little bit of lift. Real squids use this multimodal propulsion to getaway predators, and it’s also much faster—a squid can double its normal swimming speed while in the air, running at up to 50 body lengths per second.
 
The squid robot is powered primarily by condensed air, which it stores in a cylinder in its nose (do squids have noses?). The fins and arms are monitored by pneumatic actuators. When the robot wants to move through the water, it opens a value to release a modest amount of compressed air; publishing the air all at once yields enough thrust to fire the robot squid completely out of the water.
 
The jumping that you see at the end of the video is preliminary work; we’re told that the robot squid can move between 10 and 20 meters by jumping, whereas using its jet underwater will take it just 10 meters. At the moment, the squid can only fire its jet once, but the researchers plan to change the compressed air with something a bit denser, like liquid CO2, which will let for extensive operation and multiple jumps. There’s also plenty of work to do with using the fins for dynamic control, which the researchers say will “reveal the superiority of the natural flying squid movement.”



This article is originally posted on Tronserve.com