A UK-Brazilian partnership has developed a tentacle-like underwater robot that could remove the need for large vessels and human divers for offshore inspections and enable smaller underwater vehicles to perform sophisticated inspection tasks, thereby reducing operational costs and improving personnel safety and environmental sustainability.
Developed through a collaboration between the UK’s National Robotarium and Senai Cimatec in Brazil, the one-meter-long flexible manipulator features a soft, bendy design that conforms to structures during contact and works by combining a flexible backbone with a system of tendon-like cables that control its movement, with special sensors helping it understand its position and shape underwater, allowing the robot to make precise movements even in turbulent conditions.