Socialeaf | Peter Del Bosque | 03/26/2012 07:07PM
When one observes a jellyfish at an aquarium or has the fortunate chance of spotting one in the ocean, one must wonder what those silly creatures are up to. With a seemingly aimless sense of direction and sporting a body only an alien mother could love, jellyfish spark interest and amazement in the minds of the curious observer.
One such team of researchers and scientists funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research had such an interest in the curious little creatures that they decided to cleverly create the Robo-Jellyfish. This robotic feat of technology has also sparked interest for the military who plan to use the little cute robots as drones to aid in search and rescue missions and survey missions.
The Robo-Jellyfish is very reminiscent of actual jellies. Although the parts are made of different materials they motor processes are quite similar. The Robojelly's muscles are made up of a shape-memory alloy. Shape-memory alloys are somewhat of a new invention created by NASA. The metal alloy behaves just like a normal piece of allow metal where it can bend and change shape however, if it is heated to a certain degree, it spontaneously goes back to it's original shape. This technology has recently been introduced to the public. We use shape-memory alloys for orthodontic braces and eyeglass frames.
The advantage of using a shape-memory alloy for the muscles is to not only help prevent irreversible damage caused by natural sea processes but it also is used as a propeller. Not a spinning propeller but a pulsating propeller. The shape-memory alloy muscles spontaneously contract with heat generated by a chemical reaction of the hydrogen and oxygen fuel within its own body. The memory-shape alloy is covered with carbon dusted with a layer of platinum. When the hydrogen and oxygen mixture come in contact with the platinum, they interact chemically causing a superheated combustion reaction. The reaction causes the shape-memory allow to become instantly rigid back to their original form. When this reaction suddenly stops, the surrounding water instantly cools the shape-memory alloy causing it to relax and fill with water. This constant pulsating engine generates enough thrust to allow the Robojelly swimming capabilities.
The beauty of this chemo-engine is that there is a possibility of creating a self sustaining robot fueled by the very water it swims in. Since water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen, it is theoretically possible to create a way to split the molecule apart allowing the Robojelly to create it's own fuel. To add the icing on the cake, so to speak, the waste generated by the fuel's combustion is completely non-toxic and safe for the environment. The byproducts are only heat and water which means there would be no pollutants to damage the ocean.
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