Robotic jellyfish could save the world's coral reefs

The coral reefs of the world desperately need a little love. Global warming and ocean temperature spikes have resulted in the destruction of vast expanses of vital coral reefs, perhaps beyond repair, and if we do nothing to stop the lingering damage, it will be expensive. to humanity. But studying coral is not an easy task, so researchers from the Office of Naval Research of the United States and Florida Atlantic University have found a solution.

The stake is the fragility of the coral itself. It is extremely difficult to monitor reef habitats and the health of the reef ecosystem by using human divers or bulky equipment that could cause damage. The solution? Robotic jellyfish with soft body.

Using the moon jellyfish as a source of inspiration, scientists have built prototypes to test the feasibility of using a simple hydraulic movement system to allow their creation to move in the water with very little effort. The work has paid off and the result is a small robot that can effortlessly move along a coral reef without risking damage. A research article based on this work has been published in Bioinspiration & Biomimetics.

"One of the main applications of the robot is the exploration and monitoring of fragile ecosystems. So we chose flexible hydraulic network actuators to prevent accidental damage, "said Dr. Erik Engeberg of Florida Atlantic University in a statement. "Plus, live jellyfish have neutral buoyancy. To mimic this, we used water to inflate the hydraulic system actuators while we were swimming.

The flexible exterior of the robot, consisting of a rubbery silicone material, allows it to sneak into tiny interstices. A future iteration of the robot could even incorporate a sonar sensor to evaluate the size of the openings before crossing, notes Dr. Engeberg.

In the future, robotic jellyfish like these could be equipped with multiple sensors to monitor temperature and water quality or even transmit images to scientists from various parts of the reef. These eyes in the sea, so to speak, could be vital for tracking ongoing reef recovery efforts around the world.