A research team at Cornell University turned to biology for inspiration in building a soft robot with a long-lasting internal power source. The result, modeled after the lionfish, is a swimming robot powered by an internal circulating liquid electrolyte that the researchers liken to “robot blood.”
The “blood” stores energy and then circulates through the fish’s body, powering pumps in the tail and dorsal and pectoral fins. The fish does still need to be recharged eventually, but it can go 36 hours between those charges, much longer than most other battery-powered robots. This innovative system also comes at the cost of speed — the fish can only swim at about 0.01 kilometers per hour.
