As reported by Penn State, researchers from the
University of Houston will develop a stretchable skin peppered with sensors which will then gather flow and pressure data while the robot is moving within the water.
Researchers at the
University of Virginia, meanwhile, will study the physics of the fluid and its corresponding impact on the structure of the robot.
According to Cheng, data from both Houston and Virginia will be used to improve the robot they are building at Penn State, making it a truly collaborative project.
For instance, Penn State’s robot fish platform will use the sensors developed by Houston to detect nearby objects and adjust its path accordingly. At the same time, it will use the data from Virginia to optimize the control strategy of the robot’s movement in the fluid.