Researchers have created a robotic turtle, dubbed U-CAT, that could be used to explore ship wrecks.
"U-CAT is specifically designed to meet the end-user requirements. Conventional underwater robots use propellers for locomotion. Fin propulsors of U-CAT can drive the robot in all directions without disturbing water and beating up silt from the bottom, which would decrease visibility inside the shipwreck," Taavi Salumäe, the designer of the U-CAT concept and researcher in Centre for Biorobotics, Tallinn University of Technology, said in a Tallinn University of Technology news release.
The robot is highly maneuverable and can swim forwards, backwards, and turn in any direction on the spot. U-CAT is also equipped with a built-in camera.
"The so called biomimetic robots, robots based on animals and plants, is an increasing trend in robotics where we try to overcome the technological bottlenecks by looking at alternative technical solutions provided by nature ," Professor Maarja Kruusmaa, a Head of Centre for Biorobotics said.
Most of today's advanced underwater robots are built for use in the oil and gas industries or for national defense purposes. Most of these robots are impractical and too expensive to use for exploration. Shipwrecks are usually explored by human divers, but this practice can be dangerous and also expensive.
The team hopes U-CAT could be a future alternative for human-diver fueled shipwreck exploration.
U-CAT is a part of the ARROWS project which is working to create helpful devices for underwater archaeologists
"In the ARROWS project, the U-CATs would work in cooperation with larger underwater robots and together with image recognition technologies for discovery, identification and reconstruction of underwater sites, would facilitate the work in all phases of an archaeological campaign," Doctor Sebastiano Tusa, an underwater archaeologist from Sicilian Regional Government, said.
U-CAT will be tested in the Mediterranean and Baltic seas, which both have significant historical significance.
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