Researchers from Brown University and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México have created a waterfowl robot and named it RoboKrill. Its appearance has been borrowed from a shrimp called a krill (Euphausia superba). To move smoothly in the underwater depths, the micro robot is able to mimic the kinematics of a live krill.
"Prior to this project, I conducted various studies aimed at understanding the role of plankton aggregations in the ocean. To this end, I conducted an experiment where I controlled the organisms' behaviour using light signals. After that, I thought it would be a good idea to use a robotic system that has the same dynamic signature as the floating living things instead of externally controlling the organisms' behaviour," Monica M. Wilhelmus, one of the researchers who conducted the research, told TechXplore.
In the future, RoboKrill could be used by biologists and environmental scientists to remotely study the marine environment and collect scientific data in inaccessible depths. At the same time, the team does not plan to stop at the possibility of further modifications to their robot, nor to assess its performance in the wild.
"We will now study the effects of semi-kinematic morphological features and dynamic interactions in thrust generation and optimise important parameters to develop a simplified system that we can then reduce. Our ultimate goal is to design a small system and use it, for example, to intervene in various compact environments," shared Monika Wilhelmus' plans.
