Robot Turtle Designed to Help Archaeologists Explore Shipwrecks
Posted on January 11, 2014
This robot turtle, U-CAT, was designed to help archaeologists explore underwater shipwrecks. It robot was recently on display at the London Science Museum. A photo of the robot exploring seashells at the bottom of an aquarium is pictured above. U-CAT was designed to offer archaeologists an affordable alternative to human divers. The robot is part of an EU funded research project, ARROWS, which is developing technologies to assist underwater archaeologists.
The robot was designed by Taavi Salumae at the Centre for Biorobotics at Tallinn University of Technology. Salumae says, "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."
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