A research team from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology recently designed and built their own swimming robot modeled on oceanic eels. Despite its relatively simple design, the bot’s award-winning underwater undulations could provide key insights into its eel inspirations’ biology.
As New Scientist first highlighted on November 30, a video showcase of the collaborators’ work. The clip highlights the abilities of 1-guilla, the team’s nearly three-foot-long, waterproof robot. Featuring eight motorized segments, a malleable tail fin, as well as a head piece containing its frontal battery and computational unit, 1-guilla was named in honor of the more technical term for an eel’s body—anguilliform. The video of the machine’s aquatic journeys recently took home a Gallery of Fluid Motion award during last month’s annual American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics.
While anguilliform evolutionary design allows flesh-and-blood eels to migrate thousands of miles without eating, biologists are not fully sure how the fish subspecies accomplishes such a feat. Enter 1-guilla, whose body movements could be tinkered with by its designers to explore various physical patterns, as well as the interplay between energy efficiency and a speed
During testing, a “standing wave” motion occurred when 1-guilla repeatedly alternated between an S-shape and its original, straight position—only to thrash about in the water. Researchers then programmed 1-guilla to undulate so an S-shape traveled down its body. During this phase, the robot created a “traveling wave” motion allowing it to move forward. Increasing the “amplitude” of its body bending alongside lengthening its S-shape “wavelength” also led to a speedier swim.
But the main influence in how quickly 1-guilla could move through water is its tailfin. Increasing the tail’s angle to its maximum…
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