July 18, 2018 - How do you carefully collect and release a squishy sea creature? Make a gentle robot. Scientists created a new underwater robotic sampler to aid in research of deep sea inhabitants. The 12-sided enclosure folds and unfolds like origami, trapping and releasing jellyfish, octopuses, and squid without harm. Future iterations may include the ability to take DNA samples and film video. Click here to read New Origami Robot Handles Sea Creatures With a Softer Touch.
A new robotic grabber wants to be the very best, like no sampler ever was. To catch deep-sea creatures is its real test; to release them safely is its cause.
This real-life Poké Ball, unveiled in Science Robotics on Wednesday, is a twelve-sided enclosure slightly smaller than a bowling ball that opens and shuts with a single actuator, keeping it as mechanically simple as possible. The five-armed cage can snap into place in less than a second, safely catching swimming jellyfish and shape-shifting octopuses in water more than 2,000 feet deep.
Called RAD (“Rotary Actuated Dodecahedron”), the device could help scientists catch elusive creatures at the bottom of the ocean, collect data while they’re contained inside, and then let them go
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