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Monday, November 24, 2008
MIT’s robotic clam joins RoboTuna, RoboLobster on the buffet
By Brendan Lynch
MIT debuts RoboClam
NECN: Robots mimic tuna-like movement
Following an inevitable progression of locally made, seafood-mimicking robots from RoboTuna to RoboLobster to RoboLamprey, MIT has debuted its “RoboClam.”
The robotic clam is based on the simple razor clam, and the school said it could be used as a “smart” anchor able to burrow through the ocean floor. The RoboClam could reposition itself and even reverse, making it easier to recover, MIT said.
The RoboClam is being developed at MIT’s department of mechanical engineering to explore the performance capabilities of clam-inspired digging, as well as to shed light on the behavior of clams, MIT said. The robot is being developed by professor Anette “Peko” Hosoi, graduate student Amos Winter and engineers at Cambridge-based Bluefin Robotics Corp.
The RoboClam could be used as a tether for small robotic submarines that are routinely repositioned to monitor variables like currents and temperature, MIT said. A device that can burrow into the seabed and be directed to a specific location could also be useful as a detonator for buried underwater mines. The clam was chosen because it’s well-adapted to moving through sediments on the sea floor, MIT said.
Razor clams are about seven inches long by one inch wide, can move at about a centimeter per second, can dig to depths of about 70 centimeters and can anchor themselves with a force 10 times greater than other animals or even ship anchors.
The RoboClam is about the size of a lighter and is supported by pressure regulators and pistons that control how hard the robot is pushed in each direction. Researchers filmed a razor clam in a glass-sided box filled with water and beads and watched the animal dig. They witnessed a multi-step process, in which the clam’s tongue-like “foot” wiggles down into the sand. The clam then makes a quick up-and-down movement accompanied by opening and closing its shell, propelling it downward.
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