08/17/2018 / By Zoey Sky
According to a report, a group of scientists has created a unique paddling submarine, which doesn’t need an engine, a power supply, or propellant, using only 3D.
The researchers from ETH Zurich, who were led by professor Kristina Shea, collaborated with researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California, to develop a new propulsion concept for swimming robots. The robot “swims” using water temperature fluctuations for propulsion.
The researchers reported the paddling submarine via the journal PNAS.
The collaborative team designed a mini-submarine with paddles as a proof-of-concept study. The device measures only 7.5 cm, and it was made with only a multi-material 3D printer.
The paddles move with the help of a bistable propulsion element that is activated by two shape memory polymer strips, which Professor Shea earlier developed with her doctoral student Tim Chen. The polymer strips were designed to expand in warm water, and they help power the robot by acting as its “muscles.”
Once the mini-submarine floats on heated water, the “muscles” expands, making the bistable element snap quickly. This then triggers a paddle stroke. The directional motion, force, and timing of the paddle strokes are “precisely defined by the robot’s geometry and material.”
Each actuating element can only perform one paddle stroke, after which it has to be manually reprogrammed. But the researchers added that new complex swimming robots could be made using multiple actuators.
The mini-submarine developed by the researchers can paddle forward with a single stroke. The swimming robot can also release its “cargo,” which is represented by a coin, then it returns to the starting point with a second paddle stroke in the opposite direction. All of this is done as the robot “senses” changes in the water temperature.
The scientists shared that changing the geometry of the polymer muscles will let them determine the sequence that triggers the paddle stroke. Another thing to note is the thin polymer strips heat up faster in warm water, meaning it responds more quickly than thicker strips. (Related: Researchers create robot fish that can swim right next to real ones in coral reefs.)
The researchers posited that a potential development for the swimming robot includes using polymers that, instead of reacting to the water temperature, respond to other environmental factors like the acidity or salinity of the water.
Shea explained that thanks to the collaboration, the researchers were able to develop “a new and promising means of propulsion that is fully 3D printed, tuneable and works without an external power source.” She concluded that the swimming robot could also be developed to produce a low power device that can be used for ocean exploration.
The swimming robot moves when the polymer strips react to water temperature. But how does the temperature of water in the ocean vary?
You can read more articles about robots and AI like this swimming robot at Robots.news.
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Tagged Under: 3D printing, computing, inventions, machine, mini-submarine, ocean exploration, oceanography, paddling submarine, propulsion concept, robots, shape memory polymer strips, swimming robot, tech, temperature fluctuations, weird science