RoboSalps marine bot can operate in extra-terrestrial oceans

Salps belong to the Tunicata family and have a complex life cycle, changing between solitary and aggregate generations where they connect to form colonies. Their semi-transparent, barrel-shaped bodies inspired the tubular bodies of Bristol’s RoboSalps.

RoboSalps has been engineered to operate in unknown and extreme environments, taking inspiration from its animal namesake. The robot’s bodies can link to each other to form ‘colonies’, the team said, giving them new capabilities through working together.

Valentina Lo Gatto, of Bristol’s Department of Aerospace Engineering, is leading the study. She is also a student at the EPSRC Centre of Doctoral Training in Future Autonomous and Robotic Systems (FARSCOPE CDT).

Lo Gatto explained that each robotic module is made of a lightweight soft tubular structure and a drone propeller which enables them to swim independently. Combining to form ‘colonies’ makes them more robust and able to carry out complex tasks, she explained.

“Because of their low weight and their robustness, they are ideal for extra-terrestrial underwater exploration missions, for example, in the subsurface ocean on the Jupiter moon Europa,” Lo Gatto said.