Jellyfish is on its way to becoming a pioneer. As the robotic industry is too slow, too expensive, and not so friendly with the environment, jellyfish will be sent to do the exploratory work needed by men. As we don’t have access to the jellyfish knowledge about the depths of the oceans, researchers from Caltech and Stanford University found a way to get there.
With the help of microelectronic prosthetic researchers invented, the jellyfish will be able to swim more quickly and efficiently. We can’t be patient with robotics evolution, how can we be patient with the softly swim of the jellyfish? With the future upgrades of the already revolutionary prosthetic, speedy-robotic-jellyfish will send information about ocean temperature, salinity, oxygen levels, and so on.
The prosthetic is a piece of microelectronic controller equipment that pulsates at a frequency three times faster than the jelly’s regular body pulsation. So, what if the usual rate is needed to catch prey, or if the new one consumes twice as much oxygen?
Jellyfish Robots Are On The Way To Become The Ocean’s Rocket
If they can go faster, and they are over 1,000 times more efficient than swimming robots, they should! They are also very cheap: a few dollars, as compared to the usual ship-based measurements.
The process didn’t harm them, they weren’t stressed, or so the lack of mucus secretion says. Also, they went back to their normal behavior after the prosthetic was removed. The research is not final yet. The scientists still need time to figure a way to direct the jellyfish and also to equip them with sensors.
They need a small enough version of the prosthetic to embed into the jellyfish tissue and, in addition to controlling swimming speed, guide the animal’s direction. But what will happen with the jellyfish if it moves three times faster than it needs for feeding, and it won’t have control over its course? Future studies will let us know.
