Nature has more often than not proven itself to be the inspiration for inventions that we have seen over the years – such as the aeroplane, or even the helicopter. Having said that, researchers do hope to work on releasing many autonomous tiny robotic sea turtles and fishes, where these robots will do the dirty work of handling hazardous missions including the detection of nuclear waste when underwater, in addition to various tasks that have been deemed to be too dangerous where a human being’s presence is concerned. Turtle robots have been proven to be the most maneuverable of the lot, and a team of engineers over at the National University of Singapore have come up with a prototype turtle robot which is capable of performing a select set of tasks, at the same time is intelligent enough to react to exigencies and obstacles.
Associate Professor S K Panda of the National University of Singapore is the one behind the electrical and computer engineering department team, and happens to be involved in the research and development of biomimetic solutions where ocean engineering is concerned. Their robotic sea turtle is capable of moving around underwater, and it can also perform dives to even deeper depths in a vertical manner which is similar to that of an actual turtle, moving just both front and hind limbs. [Press Release]
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