Consider the manta. The flat, slick body, at home on the ocean\u2019s surface or hiding in the muck of the ocean floor; the subtle movement, flapping through water. The ubiquity of rays, from smaller variants to the massive mantas, in oceans the world around. The manta is a fascinating creature, and so it should come as no surprise that the manta also makes a fascinating body for an underwater robot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Designed by researchers at the National University of Singapore, the MantaDroid is a manta-inspired robot that propels itself through the water by flapping two flexible wings, and letting fluid dynamics take care of the rest. Each wing is powered by only a single electrical motor each, so the machine has efficiency as well as a snazzy appearance going for it. The robot is small: just shy of 14 inches long and two feet wide. And it\u2019s also light, with the simple body weighing in at only 1.5 pounds. It moves at about 1.6 mph, or twice its body length per second, but what\u2019s really impressive is that it can operate for up to 10 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n