In a move guaranteed to help speed along humanity’s eventual downfall at the appendages of robots, Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers have created a giant, autonomous robotic jellyfish. At 5 feet 7 inches in length and weighing in at 170 pounds, the prototype robot named Cyro is part of a U.S. Navy-funded project.
The foolish men who don’t know the dangerous creation they’ve let loose upon the Earth are led by Shashank Priya of Blacksburg, VA and professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. Cyro is a larger version of a similar robotic jellyfish originally revealed in 2012. Apparently RoboJelly, the earlier robot, didn’t seem intimidating enough at the size of a man’s hand, which also happens to be the size of a typical of jellyfish.
“A larger vehicle will allow for more payload, longer duration, and longer range of operation,” said Alex Villanueva, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering working under Priya and tempter of fate.
Virgina Tech and the U.S. Navy seek to position self-powering, autonomous machines like Cyro in open waters for the purposes of surveillance and monitoring the environment, studying aquatic life, mapping ocean floors, and monitoring ocean currents. Cyro manages to swim by the aid of its rigid support structure with direct current electric motors that control the mechanical arms used under and in an artificial mesoglea (the gelatinous substance defining a jellyfish’s appearance) creating hydrodynamic movement. This blasphemy on nature’s skin is made up of a thick layer of silicone and simulates the slippy body of a real jellyfish.
In other words, it’s a monster! A monster out to rule the seas!
Comments are closed.