Oct. 2, 2014 | By Alec

In September, researchers from MIT revealed a curious little creation at the International Conference on Robots and Systems. Their latest robot is a type of submersible drone that is set to be changing underwater security. What's more, its 3D printed, making it an impressive and affordable addition to the world of robotics.

This fascinating little robot was made by Sampriti Bhattacharyya, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, who designed it together with her advisor, Ford Professor of Engineering Harry Asada. While they haven't come up with a flashy name yet, this submersible robot is a little smaller than a football and is designed to slide along underwater surfaces like pipelines, nuclear reactors and the hulls of boats.


As the MIT website reported, it is equipped with an ultrasound scanner that will allow it to 'look for cracks in nuclear reactors' water tanks, the robot could also inspect ships for the false hulls and propeller shafts that smugglers frequently use to hide contraband.' To move about, the robot has an unique propulsion mechanism. Built with a 3D printer in Asada's lab, the main body consists of two parts: 'Half of the robot is waterproof and houses the electronics. The other half is permeable and houses the propulsion system, which consists of six pumps that expel water through rubber tubes.'

The tubes propel the little drone forward and, crucially, leaves no visible wake. While the positioning of the tubes means its difficult to move in a straight line, it makes this robot ideal for swimming in confined, tight spaces. This means that the robots are theoretically ideal for approaching ships and scanning them without giving away their presence to anyone on board: 'the robots could, in theory, be concealed in clumps of algae or other camouflage. Fleets of them could swarm over ships at port without alerting smugglers and giving them the chance to jettison their cargo.'

While not revealing the printer or material used to create this unnamed robot, Bhattacharyya did talk about the cost-effectiveness that 3D printing brings to any project. 'It's very expensive for port security to use traditional robots for every small boat coming into the port. If this [robot] is cheap enough — if I can get this out for $600, say — why not just have 20 of them doing collaborative inspection? And if it breaks, it's not a big deal. It's very easy to make.'

While there are still a few elements that could be improved upon – the batteries, for instance, need to be recharged every 40 minutes – this robotic invention is nonetheless very promising. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. Air Force has been keeping a close eye on it. MIT even quoted special-tactics officer Nathan Betcher as saying: 'I am particularly interested to see if this type of technology could find use in domestic maritime operations ranging from the detection of smuggled nuclear, biological, or chemical agents to drug interdiction, discovery of stress fractures in submerged structures and hulls, or even faster processing and routing of maritime traffic.'

It would therefore be hardly surprising if this 3D printed contraption becomes commonplace in harbours around the world in the near future.

 


Posted in 3D Printing Applications

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Hayden wrote at 3/26/2015 2:18:16 AM:

Awesome

Un-Hyong Baek wrote at 1/27/2015 10:08:13 AM:

Dear Sir, Please advise we can purchae this innovative robot as a smaple(pilot) unit first as our sales and demo toll internationally. We have potential & existing market market in South Korea. If it is possible, please send me a brief data sheet and manual on this item for preparing my presentation for convincing customers in South Korea. I don't know you are ready to sell this product commercially. Thanks in advance. V.B.R. Un-Hyong Baek ELMO Trading A-418, Twin-tower, 275-3, Yangjae-dong, Suhcho-ku, Seoul, KOREA Tel : 82 70 8806 3039 Fax : 82 2 578 1391 Mobile : 82 10 2730 3039 e-mail : sihoo0427@gmail.com URL : Under construction now

Dennis wolfe wrote at 11/26/2014 7:47:32 PM:

The article mentions the U.S. Air Force is interested in this robot for maritime operations. Last time I checked, the U.S. Coast Guard oversaw maritme operations!



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