CkevinC: Robotic jellyfish runs off renewable energy

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Hot Topics Tablets Apple iPad Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Apple iPhone Enterprise 2.0 Microsoft Office Green tech GreenTech Pastures Heather Clancy Mobile RSS Email Alerts Home / News & Blogs / GreenTech Pastures Robotic jellyfish runs off renewable energy By Heather Clancy | March 26, 2012, 12:49pm PDT

Summary: Researchers at the University of Texas (Dallas) and Virginia Tech experiment with a robot that runs of hydrogen and oxygen.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas and Virginia Tech are using the concept of biomimicry to experiment with a robot that could, in the future, provide a model for the design of undersea surveillance and rescue vehicles.

So far, researchers have applied their approach to a robotic jellyfish (see the video below for a demonstration). The robotic jellyfish uses hydrogen and oxygen gasses in water as its source of energy. The work is described in Smart Materials and Structures.

“We’ve created an underwater robot that doesn’t need batteries or electricity,” said Yonas Tadesse, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas, and one of the study’s authors, in a statement about the research. “It feeds off hydrogen and oxygen gasses and the only waste released as it travels is water.”

The idea is that in the future, product designers may be able to use the concepts for the jellyfish in unmanned robots used in rescue and reconnaissance situations.

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it. More from “GreenTech Pastures” Miami company launches electronics refurbishment venture Topics Renewable Energy, Researcher, Telecom & Utilities, Heather Clancy

Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist with a passion for green technology and corporate sustainability issues.

Full Bio Disclosure Contact Disclosure Heather Clancy

Writing publicly about what the high-tech industry is actually doing to help itself and the world get greener or more sustainable is one way I figure I can contribute more meaningfully to said effort. I am also a big OMG-kind-of-fan of smart leadership, which is why the goodly folks who publish this blog let me go on about this topic and why I am always on the hunt for forward-looking business management ideas.

My daily writing is focused on looking for topics for my blogs, GreenTech Pastures and Business Brains. I also write often about emerging technology trends such as mobile computing, unified communications and cloud computing. Occasionally, I will pop up at an industry conference in some sort of speaking capacity. In cases where a speaking engagement involves a sponsor that may be covered in this blog, that fact will be disclosed in coverage as appropriate.

My corporate writing work usually consists of crafting research white papers about some aspect of technology. In the event that my commentary (in written, audio or video form) mentions a company for which I have provided consulting advice, I will disclose that fact. However, there is no connection between these projects and the topics that I am covering in my blog.

Biography Heather Clancy

Heather Clancy is an award-winning business journalist with a passion for green technology and corporate sustainability issues. Her articles have appeared in Entrepreneur, Fortune Small Business, The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times. In a past corporate life, Heather was editor of Computer Reseller News, where she was a featured speaker about everything from software as a service to IT security to mobile computing.

Heather started her journalism life as a business writer with United Press International in New York. She holds a B.A. in English literature from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and has a thing for Lewis Carroll. Vendor HotSpotHere to help you with your Document Management Needs