LONDON: To create robots, researchers highly rely on observational data that describe how species, from which they derive their experiments, move. The development of underwater robots are usually based on the study of jellyfish and lampreys because these animals are known to have highly efficient and smooth movements under the water.
Jellyfish and lampreys have always been thought to move by pushing themselvs from the water to propel forward. However, researchers recently discovered that is not actually the case as the sea creatures actually pull water towards themselves in order to move.
The new discovery of the experts could help enhance scientific understanding and open up new advances in the technology of underwater vehicle development, alongside other technical applications.
John Dabiri, co-author of the study and a professor of mechanical engineering and civil and environmental engineering at Stanford said that for almost a century, it has been assumed that imitating how efficient swimmers move means looking for ways to create high pressure mechanisms to push water backwards.
“Now we realize we’ve had it backward, and so the search is on for ways to generate low-pressure suction to achieve more efficient underwater propulsion,” he added.
John Costello, one of the study authors and a jellyfish expert from Providence College said that the results of the new study demonstrate the process chosen by evolution to enhance distance-for-effort in underwater species. He explained that flexible structures are what enable underwater animals to move through fluids, and the recent findings pave the way to comprehending the reason why evolution assembled upon specific bending patterns.
