November 26, 2012Robot sea turtle takes first dip in the pool

A robot sea turtle built to explore fin-based propulsion takes its first dip in the pool

Image Gallery (9 images)

In early October we took a look at the naro - tartaruga, a biomimetic robot based on sea turtles being built by researchers at ETH Zurich (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). It's a research platform that tests the concept of fin propulsion, and now we have a video of its first swim, which is surprisingly life-like.

The naro - tartaruga measures a full meter (3.3 feet) in length and weighs 75 kg (165 lbs). It is estimated to swim at speeds up to 7.2 km/h (4.4 mph) with a diving depth of 100 meters (328 feet). For comparison, the green sea turtle usually swims at 2.5 – 3 km/h (1.6 – 1.9 mph) in shallow waters. Sadly, all seven species of sea turtles are considered either "endangered" or "critically endangered."

Currently the naro - tartaruga still lacks a proper shell, which will protect its internal electronics and streamline its shape, possibly reducing drag. In the future, the robot will serve as a vessel for studying autonomous underwater navigation, with interchangeable heads mounted with various sensors. Thanks to its fin-based locomotion, which is less noisy than using propellers, and its natural appearance, a robot like this one would be ideal for studying underwater ecosystems like coral reefs, which are also under serious threat.

The same team is responsible for a tuna fish-like robot simply called the naro (short for nautical robot), which propels itself primarily with its tail fin. Another, more recent example of fin-based propulsion is the Shoal Consortium's robo-fish, which they hope will lead to autonomous underwater sensor networks.

You can see naro - tartaruga take to the pool in the video below.

Source: ETH Zurich Autonomous Systems Lab

机器人海龟在泳池进行首次水下测试

Robot海龟需要先浸在pool

机器人海龟建探索鳍型推进器将其第一个在游泳池畅游

在十月初，我们采取一看纳罗 - tartaruga，仿生机器人基于海龟的研究人员在苏黎世联邦理工学院（技术的瑞士联邦理工学院）正在建设之中。这是一个研究平台，测试鳍状物推进的概念，现在我们拥有了第一次游泳，这是令人惊讶的逼真

罗老的视频 - tartaruga措施长度全米（3.3英尺）重75公斤（165磅）。据估计，它的速度可达7.2公里每小时（4.4英里），100米（328英尺）的潜水深度游。相比之下，绿海龟通常在游泳2.5 - 在浅水 - （1.9英里每小时1.6）3公里

时。可悲的是，所有的七种海龟被认为无论是“濒危”或

目前罗老“极度濒危。” - tartaruga仍然缺乏一个合适的外壳，这将保护其内部的电子设备和简化其形状，有可能减少阻力。在未来，机器人将作为学习自主水下航行，具有可互换头部安装有各种传感器的容器中。由于它的鳍为基础的运动，这比用螺旋桨噪音小，其自然的外观，像这样的机器人将是理想的学习的水下生态系统一样的珊瑚礁，其中也不乏受到严重威胁。

同队负责金枪鱼类的机器人简称为纳罗（简称航海机器人），这推动本身主要与它的尾鳍。鳍型推进器的另一个，更近的例子是在浅滩联盟的机器人，鱼，他们希望将导致自主式水下传感器网络

你可以看到纳罗 - tartaruga采取在下面的视频池