Fastest-accelerating underwater robot

In 2015, scientists working within for research project including experts from Southampton (UK), Singapore and MIT (Cambridge, USA) developed a robot that can travel underwater at high speeds. The robot, which is 27 cm in length and named the “octo-bot” (the team took inspiration from an octopus), can accelerate from 0–11.7 km/h in just 0.95 seconds. This corresponds to accelerating by more than 10 times its own body length per second squared. The robot has a skeleton of 3D-printed polycarbonate and an elastic membrane, without any moving parts. In fact, movement is generated by the energy in the elastic membrane. The robot is inflated with water and ejects it to propel itself.

The octo-bot has high efficiency in converting power into acceleration. Unlike man-made underwater vehicles, it reduces its external dimensions by ejecting water – leading to high conversion of energy into movement. This mechanism makes the robot even more efficient than a rocket accelerating in space.