The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has debuted a robot fish that it claims is capable of changing direction almost as fast as a real fish.

"We're excited about soft robots for a variety of reasons," says Daniela Rus, a professor of computer science and engineering, director of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and one of the researchers who helped designed and build the fish, according to a MIT press release. "As robots penetrate the physical world and start interacting with people more and more, it's much easier to make robots safe if their bodies are so wonderfully soft that there's no danger if they whack you."

Rus said that with "soft" machines, the entire robotic planning problem changes. When dealing with most robotic motion-planning systems, avoiding collisions with the environment is often the "highest priority." This can lead to inefficient motion, since the robot has to settle for "collision-free trajectories" that it can locate quickly.

When dealing with soft robots however, collision is not as big of a worry.

"In some cases, it is actually advantageous for these robots to bump into the environment, because they can use these points of contact as means of getting to the destination faster," Rus said.

The new robotic fish was reportedly designed to explore a "third advantage" of soft robots.

"The fact that the body deforms continuously gives these machines an infinite range of configurations, and this is not achievable with machines that are hinged," Rus says.

The "continuous curvature" of the robotic fish's body when it flexes allows it to change direction so quickly, according to Rus, who confirmed "a rigid-body robot could not do continuous bending."

The fish was built by Andrew Marchese, a graduate student in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering Computer Science, and lead author of the new paper.

Marchese built the fish using 3D printing technology to create a mold, which was then used to cast the fish's body from silicone rubber, according to the press release.

The fish is capable of executing around 20 to 30 maneuvers before running out of gas.

"The fish was designed to explore performance capabilities, not long-term operation," said Marchese, according to the press release. "Next steps for future research are taking that system and building something that's compromised on performance a little bit but increases longevity."

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