Engineers at Virginia Tech have created a five-and-a-half-foot jellyfish robot that could one day be used for ocean surveillance.
Dubbed "Cyro," the robot has eight robotic arms, and its skeleton is wrapped in a silicon covering similar to the soft exterior of a jellyfish. Weighing 170 pounds, Cyro was modeled after an earlier prototype nicknamed RoboJelly, which was about the size of a human hand.
Cyro has a battery pack that allows it to swim for up to four hours, however researchers hope to extend this time to weeks or even months.
Part of a $5 million U.S. Navy-funded project, Cyro may one day be used for aquatic naval operations. But if the Navy passes on the jellyfish, engineers say environmental groups could also use the Cyro for underwater research and ocean conservation.
BONUS: 10 Other Awesome Robots
[nggallery id=8819]