Soft Robotic Jellyfish

About

FAU researchers developed a soft robotic jellyfish that contains a variety of environmental monitoring sensors. Similar to a real jellyfish, the robotic jellyfish has a central body and nine tentacles. The central body contains the power source, the control logic, and any desired marine sensors. The tentacles are divided into groups of three and contain a soft actuator connected to a submersible impeller pump that fills and empties, causing the tentacles to flap and propel the jellyfish through the water. The robot demonstrated lateral and vertical motions, as well as station-keeping ability. Additionally, the adaptive controller allowed the robot to operate down to depths of 18 meters with an average speed of 1 cm/s in the lateral direction and up to 2 cm/s in the vertical direction.