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Flatworm-inspired aquatic robot swims by doing the shimmy


If a robot is being used to gather data in sensitive aquatic environments, it shouldn't have a whirring propeller that could harm wildlife or get caught in weeds. A new bot addresses that issue by utilizing a swimming mechanism inspired by flatworms.

If a robot is being used to gather data in sensitive aquatic environments, it shouldn't have a whirring propeller that could harm wildlife or get caught in weeds. Scientists at Switzerland's EPFL university have now copied that action in a tiny untethered robot that can move in any direction across the water's surface. Possible uses for more advanced versions of the robot could include environmental monitoring, pollution tracking, and precision agricultural tasks in settings such as flooded rice paddies.

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shimmy

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Flatworm