Swimming robot that senses changes in water temperature to advance
In collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, the California Institute of Technology, using shape memory materials, has developed a swimming robot that does not require motors and batteries to move in water in response to changes in water temperature.
Structure of Swimming robot:
The swimming robot consists of a housing, a float, a fin, a bistable element and a shape memory polymer muscle, all made by 3D printing. The shape memory polymer muscle is an actuator that stretches when the water temperature is above the glass transition temperature of the material, and bends below this temperature.
The elastic bistable element is coupled to the shape memory polymer muscle. When the shape memory polymer muscle is stretched, the bistable element converts the slow small motion amplification of the shape memory polymer muscle into a fast motion to promote the robot motion. The shape memory polymer muscle consists of VeroWhitePlus plastic (glass transition temperature 60 ° C), the bistable element uses Agilus 30 rubber, and the remaining components use RGD 525 high temperature resistant material.
The robotic housing supports bi-stable components to ensure linear drive and motion stability; the float ensures that the shape memory polymer muscles are vertically submerged in water; the fins can be paddled, driven by an unstable warped truss, via elastic joints Bi-stable components are connected. Changing the symmetry of the robot fins (such as the number of fins, thickness, length) can adjust its speed and direction of movement.
This type of robot uses water temperature changes to advance without the need for additional power and propulsion equipment. This principle can be used for marine transportation, water quality monitoring, underwater exploration, etc.
Report Says:
According to the British media reported on July 30, Japan has recently developed a swimming robot that can swim in different positions in the water. Scientists hope to apply it to water rescue and research in the future.
It is reported that the swimming robot named Swumanoid is made by scaling down the real person through 3D scanning. The whole body is equipped with 20 computer-controlled waterproof engines, so that all the joints of the whole body can move flexibly. At present, Swumanoid can completely imitate the human swimming posture in the water, swimming in the backstroke, freestyle and other postures, but if you want to make it breaststroke, you have to change its legs.
