One of the quickest and most efficient amphibious robots, AmphiSAW ,has been developed by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev engineer Dr. David Zarrouk and his student Omer Guetta.
The AmphiSAW. Image Credit: Dr. David Zarrouk/BGU
The outcomes of the study were reported earlier this month in the peer-reviewed journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics.
The robot has possible applications in search and rescue, particularly at the time of natural disasters like tsunamis and floods. Also, it has potential applications in fish feeding and marine agriculture as the robot attracts fish rather than repelling them.
The movement of the robot is very quick both on land and in the water. On land, the robot crawled at around 1.5 body lengths per second (B/s) and swam at 0.74 B/second in water. It can be equipped with wheels or legs at the front, which increases its crawl speed, particularly over irregular terrain.
The single motor and bioinspired design contribute significantly to the robot's efficiency and the relative simplicity of its design means it is scalable to any size.
Dr. David Zarrouk, Negev Engineer, Ben-Gurion University
The aim of the study is to produce robots that can complete complicated maneuvers yet use very little power to run and are simple to produce.
Besides Dr. Zarrouk and Omer Guetta, Dan Shachaf and Rotem Katz added to the project.
The study was financially supported in part by the Pearlstone center for aeronautical studies by the Helmsley Charitable Trust through the Agricultural, Biological and Cognitive Robotics Initiative, and by the Marcus Endowment Fund, both at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and by the Israel Science Foundation, Grant No. 1279/18 and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Grant No. 3-16645.
A Bio Friendly Amphibious Robot AmphiSAW רובוט אמפיבי ידידותי לסביבה
Video Credit: BGU
Journal Reference
Guetta, O., et al. (2023) A novel wave-like crawling robot has excellent swimming capabilities. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics. doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/acb1e8.