The sea is full of incredible wight , but studying them without harm them is often a difficult chore . Few technical approach have been employ to add extremely deep Pisces the Fishes to the surface . Now researchers have get a special robot hand that can safely enamour the most delicate sea creatures .
The technical school is called the circular actuated dodecahedron ( RAD ) . It is an origami automaton handwriting that close out in a dodecahedron , a twelve - sided satisfying . The system has five identical , 3-D - printed polymer faces bond to rotating marijuana cigarette . When a single motor apply a torque , the grimace fold and the social system close down . The gimmick is draw in the late issue ofScience Robotics .
The team first prove the RAD at the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut , where they successfully collected and released moon Portuguese man-of-war underwater . It was then more or less modify so that it could withstand the actual shape of the ocean . It was bestride on a remotely operated fomite provide by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute ( MBARI ) and tested to profundity between 500 and 700 meters ( 1,600 and 2,300 feet ) . The team was able to capture and release calamari and jellyfish without injury .
" The RAD sampler intention is thoroughgoing for the unmanageable environment of the deep ocean because its controls are very bare , so there are fewer constituent that can break . It ’s also modular , so if something does break , we can merely replace that part and send the sampler back down into the piddle , " lead author Dr Zhi Ern Teoh , from Harvard University , say in astatement . " This folding design is also well - suited to be used in space , which is standardized to the rich sea in that it ’s a low - gravity , inhospitable environment that makes operating any machine challenging . "
The plan is now to add sensors and cameras to the RAD so that when animate being are captured researchers can maximize the amount of information they amass from these creatures .
" We approach these animate being as if they are works of art : would we edit pieces out of the Mona Lisa to study it ? No – we ’d expend the most advanced dick usable . These deep - ocean organism , some being thousands of days honest-to-goodness , deserve to be treated with a similar mildness when we ’re interacting with them , " added collaborate author David Gruber , prof of Biology and Environmental Science at Baruch College , CUNY .
The team is also considering a more heavy duty version of the origami golem that could be used for geologic investigations .
