Funded by
the United States Navy, Virginia Tech has developed a “life-like, autonomous”
underwater robot. “Cyro the Jellyfish”
is about the size of a human being with a weight of 170 pounds and a length of
5 feet 7 inches.
Cyro has a
waterproof shell attached to eight mechanical arms. A sheet of pliable silicone is stretched over
both the shell and arms. The sheet
flexes as the arms move giving the moving robot the distinct appearance, and
apparent movement, of a jellyfish.
The name
“Cyro” is a combination of the first two letters of the species on which this
robot’s design is based, Cyanea capillata,
plus the first two letters of the word “robot.” Cy + ro = Cyro.
In 2012,
the first prototype, RoboJelly, was developed.
About the size of man’s hand, this smaller version had about the same
dimensions as an actual jellyfish. But
why model an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, UUV, after a Jellyfish?
Biomimicry.
Biomimicry describes
any technology imitating (copied from) nature.
In other words, if you want a drone that works in a particular way, and
the best example of such performance is a biological organism, imitation is the
shortest distance to the goal.
And the
selection of a jellyfish as a model for this UUV was no accident. The actual jellyfish, as an organism, seems
“designed” to operate with a low metabolic rate allowing it function with
remarkably low energy consumption.
Although jellyfish all share certain common traits of physical
structure, these creatures come in many different shapes, sizes and
colors. This variety provides a wide
selection of “models” for possible design imitation.
But the
desirable qualities of the jellyfish, for technological imitation, go farther
than its fuel economy and assortment of “body styles.” Jellyfish successfully live and function in
all the major oceans of the world. They
flourish in warm tropical waters and as well as the colder waters of the
arctic. We’re most familiar with the
coastal species, which are, in fact, the most numerous. But a number of jellyfish species live (and
live well) at depths of over four miles
beneath the surface of the ocean.
Virginia
Tech Professor of Mechanical Engineering Shashank Priya heads the robotic
jellyfish project. Development is
focusing on power consumption with the goal of extending Cyro’s operating time
from hours to months. Alex Villanueva, a doctoral
student in mechanical engineering, working under Priya, explained that the
larger payload capacity will also allow more operating time and longer
range.
Cyro is
Virginia Tech’s contribution under a $5,000,000 grant from the U.S. Naval
Undersea Warfare Center of the Office of Naval Research. The grant is shared with UCLA, Stanford
University, Providence College, and the University of Texas. The Navy’s
ultimate goal is to develop “self-powering, autonomous machines,” which will operate
in the oceans for purposes of surveillance, monitoring ocean currents, mapping
the ocean floors and studying undersea life.
Thursday 15 May 2014
GCLM5444HOxenia
[Author’s Note: (trivia) Cyro is patterned after a jellyfish species commonly called
the “lions mane.” This extremely large jellyfish
was featured in an original Sherlock Holmes short story, The
Adventure of the Lion’s Mane.
But the story exaggerates the toxicity of this species’ sting, which is
no more dangerous than the sting of the jellyfish often encountered in coastal
waters.]
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