Researchers at Yale University have created a robot that turns its legs into flippers before
Terrestrial and aquatic turtles have similar bodies tofour limbs and a shell, but the different shape of the limbs helps these animals adapt to the environment in which they live. The researchers decided to repeat their evolutionary "experience" to create a universal robot that moves equally well on land and in water.
Transformable robot. Image: Yale
The limbs use materials with variablestiffness and artificial muscles to transform the shape when moving from one environment to another. In the "ground" configuration, the robot moves on land on four legs. Upon reaching a body of water, it transforms its legs into flippers, allowing it to swim.
Typically, amphibious robots use different mechanisms for each environment, which increases energy costs, the developers explain. The new device simply adapts the same mechanisms.
Transformable robot. Video: Yale
The transforming robot can be used formonitoring ecosystems along coastlines, supporting divers and growing aquaculture. In addition, with its help, scientists plan to study the physics of movement in the complex surf zone, where waves, currents and turbidity make navigation difficult for conventional devices.
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