This Singapore invention looks and swims like a manta ray – and it could be the future of autonomous underwater vehicles
The MantaDroid can accommodate a range of sensors and be used to study marine biodiversity and in search operations
By Sujin Thomas
It looks like a baby manta ray flapping its wings as it glides through the water.
But it’s actually an aquatic robot which swims at a speed of twice its body length per second and can operate for up to 10 hours.
Meet the MantaDroid.
It’s the brainchild of a team from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS’) Department of Mechanical Engineering, which set out two years ago to develop a bio-inspired autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).
The MantaDroid measures 35cms in length, 63cms in width and weights 0.7kg, and was created after an in-depth study of fluid dynamics and experiments which included the testing of 40 different fin designs.