Scientists Made a Robotic Hand So Soft It Can Handle a Jelly Fish
%2Favatars%2F6UKotck4r9pz.jpg&w=96&q=75)
%2Fimg%2Fiea%2FZ3G8aRbR6m%2Fsoft-robotic-gripper-2.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Jellyfish are 95 percent water. They are one of the most delicate living organisms that can be held in a person's hands.
Interestingly, the tissue that makes up the 5 percent that isn't water has actually yielded impressive scientific discoveries, like green fluorescent protein (GFP), a finding that could help combat aging.
The problem is that jellyfish are so delicate, it is difficult for remote robotic arms to collect them without causing damage. Now, researchers have found a solution in the form of soft robotics.
RELATED: ORIGAMI-INSPIRED UNTETHERED MACHINES MIGHT BE FUTURE OF SOFT ROBOTICS
Ultra-soft robot hand
The tools aboard remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), used for picking up samples, that are available to marine biologists were largely developed for the marine oil and gas industries. As such, they are best suited for grasping and manipulating rocks and heavy equipment.
Unfortunately, these types of tools often shred jellyfish to pieces in attempts to capture them.
Now, a new technology developed by researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and Baruch College at CUNY, offers a way of collecting jellyfish with an ultra-soft robotic hand-like gripper. This gripper is able to hold a jellyfish without causing it harm.
The new soft robotics technology, which pumps water into soft finger-like tubes to allow a gentle grip, is described in a new paper published in Science Robotics.
"Our ultra-gentle gripper is a clear improvement over existing deep-sea sampling devices for jellies and other soft-bodied creatures that are otherwise nearly impossible to collect intact," first author Nina Sinatra, Ph.D., a mechanical and materials engineer at Google, said in a press release.
"This technology can also be extended to improve underwater analysis techniques and allow extensive study of the ecological and genetic features of marine organisms without taking them out of the water."
Incredibly soft grip
The gripper's six "fingers" are made from thin, flat strips of silicone with a hollow channel inside, bonded to a layer of flexible but stiff polymer nanofibers.
The fingers are attached to a rectangular, 3D-printed plastic "palm." When the channels fill with water, they curl in the direction of the nanofiber-coated side.
The fingers each exert an extremely low amount of pressure - about 0.0455 kPA, which is less than one-tenth of the pressure of a human's eyelid on their eye.
To give a bit of perspective on this, the current best soft marine grippers - which are used to capture delicate marine life, though a little stronger than jellyfish - exert about one kPA.
A later phase of the researchers' study saw them test their gripper by collecting real jellyfish at the New England Aquarium. They collected swimming moon jellies, jelly blubbers, and spotted jellies - all of these are roughly the size of a golf ball.
The gripper was successfully able to capture each jellyfish against the device's palm, and the jellyfish were unable to break free until the gripper was depressurized.
SHOW COMMENT (1)
/2023/09/28/image/jpeg/AtjB9nEOiZuYEOD35oMNtLJJXp0cWNGyinEwAMMG.jpg "Atomic clocks on the horizon: Unveiling the power of scandium")
/2023/08/03/image/jpeg/Q9IvuRvY7jvsrewv390Jv5WQd2bAFZMorhVeIFE9.jpg "Does hydrogen have a future as a clean energy source?")
/2023/09/28/image/jpeg/egDBIcHsFAv4CYZfZrlpC5HlIAfJdSZKnHc6qMBT.jpg "Apple’s AI chief has announced engine switch update in iOS 17")
/2023/09/28/image/png/JxWeuRBc3TFCMjNiVXu2UIt90UamRuAnXtEPxWhT.png "Are plastic-eating worms the solution to plastic waste?")
/2023/09/02/image/jpeg/kVfib67OvUtCNGT9wiJFzhnr2NjVyYwWpVHsFNXg.jpg "Cleaning tech that makes people want to wash their hands")
/2023/08/12/image/jpeg/YpIBySMmJsZiGQlarXybqbSBEqLy3heGb8irafUg.jpg "Predictions for what the world will be like in 2100?")
/2023/09/11/image/jpeg/FyjoRiLdd9sOj0dytR3WjS3yDS1ON5OKg7bkfRUv.jpg "Life by 2100: nanotech, cybernetics, and commercial space travel")
/2023/09/28/image/jpeg/vMeOnfZRpOLq4SFGyP47JHUGjWbq6U0JXJ5FQhH5.jpg "Taiwan reveals first indigenous submarine amid growing threat")
/2023/09/04/image/jpeg/crP5g4SmwhoGFiXWL8CXe4FGQ2U9ee2fIMXCpg8d.jpg "The real impact of blue light on eye health and sleep")
/2023/09/28/image/jpeg/k5h3SzgHCtjTANneWkrzc1PKKIE54CnSHDKPm0z7.jpg "X rising from the ashes? CEO envisions profits in 2024")