Virginia Tech develops a better robotic jellyfish

Researchers at Virginia Tech have created a larger， improved version of their existing RoboJelly robotic jellyfish

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Last year， a team of researchers from the Virginia Tech College of Engineering unveiled RoboJelly – a robotic jellyfish in development since 2009， that’s about the size of a man’s hand. While the squishy little robot is certainly an impressive feat of engineering， the same team has now created a bigger， better jellybot， known as Cyro.

The lion’s mane jellyfish served as the inspiration for the new robot – the monicker “Cyro” comes from that animal’s Latin name， cyanea capillata.

The neutrally-buoyant robot is five feet， seven inches （1.7 meters） wide， and weighs 170 pounds （77 kg）。 Its rigid inner support structure contains its electronic components， including its rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery. Attached to that structure are eight mechanical arms， each powered by its own direct current electric motor. Working with the surrounding exterior silicone body， the movements of those arms are able to successfully reproduce the swimming motion of the real jellyfish.

Cyro‘s inner structure， placed on top of a plastic crate

Cyro has been made bigger than RoboJelly not because it’s more impressive， but because it’s more practical. When used to autonomously monitor the marine environment， perform surveillance， map the ocean floor or perform other duties， a bigger robot could hold a larger payload of sensors and processors， go farther， and stay at sea longer – possibly weeks or even months at a time

The differences between the two robots don’t end with their size. While RoboJelly receives its power via a tether， Cyro is completely free-roaming. RoboJelly does incorporate an experimental system in which it’s able to power itself using hydrogen and oxygen extracted from the surrounding water， although there’s reportedly much more work to be done before that technology could be practically integrated into a sea-going robot.

Even Cyro itself isn’t likely to be heading off on any solo ocean voyages any time soon. In fact， a successor is already in the works. It’s hoped that the next robot will consume less power， swim more effectively， and generally be more similar to a real jellyfish. Some of the reasons that jellyfish were chosen as the “template” for the robots include the facts that the animals use very little energy when swimming， they exist in a variety of shapes and sizes， and they function in a wide range of marine and freshwater environments.

Both Cyro and RoboJelly are part of an ongoing project funded by the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center and the Office of Naval Research， that also involves research being conducted at Providence College in Rhode Island， the University of California Los Angeles， the University of Texas at Dallas， and Stanford University. The Virginia Tech team is headed by Prof. Shashank Priya.

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弗吉尼亞理工大學(xué)研制出了更大更好的機器水母 Virginia技術(shù)開發(fā)出更好的機器人jellyfish

研究人員在弗吉尼亞理工大學(xué)創(chuàng)造了他們現(xiàn)有的RoboJelly機器人水母

圖片廊（3圖像）

去年，來自弗吉尼亞理工大學(xué)工程學(xué)院的一組研究人員揭開了機器人Jelely的面紗——機器人水母從2009開始發(fā)展，這是一個男人手的大小。雖然這臺小型的機器人確實是一項令人嘆為觀止的工程成就，但同一個團隊現(xiàn)在創(chuàng)造了一個更大更好的果凍機器人，即Cyro。

獅鬃水母擔(dān)任靈感的新的機器人 - 的外號“西羅”的由來從動物的拉丁名，霞capillata

的中性浮力的機器人是五英尺7英寸（1.7米）寬，重170磅（77千克）。其剛性內(nèi)支承結(jié)構(gòu)包含其的電子元件，包括它的可再充電的鎳金屬氫化物電池。連接到該結(jié)構(gòu)八個機械臂，每個搭載自己的直流電動機。與周圍的外部硅膠體工作，這些武器的動作能夠成功地再現(xiàn)真實水母的游泳運動。

西羅的內(nèi)部結(jié)構(gòu)，放置在塑料箱的頂部

西羅已大于RoboJelly不是因為它是更令人印象深刻，但因為它更實用。當(dāng)用于自動監(jiān)測海洋環(huán)境，執(zhí)行偵察，繪制洋底或執(zhí)行其他職責(zé)，一個更大的機器人可容納傳感器和處理器的更大的有效載荷，走的更遠，并停留在海上長 - 可能數(shù)周甚至數(shù)月的時間

兩個機器人之間的差異不與它們的大小結(jié)束。雖然RoboJelly通過繩索取電，西羅是完全自由漫游。 RoboJelly確實包含一個實驗系統(tǒng)中，它能夠使用氫和從周圍的水中提取氧氣本身供電，雖然有報道更多的工作要做之前，這種技術(shù)可以切實融入出海機器人。

即便西羅本身不太可能對任何單獨的海洋將遠赴航程任何時間很快。事實上，繼任者已經(jīng)在工程。它希望下一次機器人將消耗更少的功率，更有效地游泳，并且一般更類似于真正的水母。一些水母被評為“模板”用于機器人的原因包括對動物使用游泳時，它們中的各種形狀和尺寸的存在非常少的能量的事實，它們在大范圍的海洋和淡水的功能環(huán)境

雙方西羅和RoboJelly是在普羅維登斯學(xué)院在羅得島州，加州大學(xué)洛杉磯分校，正在開展由美國海軍水下作戰(zhàn)中心和海軍研究，還涉及研究辦公室資助的正在進行的項目的一部分德克薩斯大學(xué)達拉斯分校和斯坦福大學(xué)。弗吉尼亞理工大學(xué)團隊由沙善普里亞教授