The robot & # 39; flying fish & # 39; propels himself by throwing water on his buttocks

Engineers often turn to nature to learn from the creation of robots. Just look Astro the robot dog or the antelope SpaceBok. But robots are not only useful on earth. So what about a flying fish robot?

A team from the Aerial Robotics Lab at Imperial College, London, UK, has come up with a floating robot capable of pulling a jet of water from the back to propel itself into the airs.

The robot has the shape of a small plane. A video published by the college presents its aerobatics in slow motion.

What is innovative about this robot is its intelligent propulsion system. The water and calcium carbide powder mix in a reaction chamber, creating an acetylene gas that ignites, expands and pushes water to propel the robot. This is a powerful combination that allows the robot to slide in the air up to 26 meters.

"The water-to-air transition is a power-hungry process, difficult to achieve on a small flying vehicle that must be lightweight for flight," said Mirko Kovac, director of the Aerial Robotics Laboratory. The only moving part is a pump that mixes water and powder.

The researchers published details on the robot Wednesday in the journal Science Robotics. The robot has already been tested in the laboratory and outdoors. He braved a wave tank to see if he could still pounce in more difficult water conditions. It could.

"These types of low-powered, unattached robots could be really useful in environments that usually require a lot of time and resources, especially after natural disasters such as floods or nuclear accidents," said Raphael Zufferey, lead author from Journal.

While it's fun to speculate on a future robopocalypse, this particular robot seems to want to help humans. The development process continues with the use of the machine to monitor coral reefs and offshore platforms.

Go ahead, flying fish. We are looking for you.

Originally published on September 11 at 12:18. PT.