Remember our little RoboJelly, from so long ago? Well let’s take a look at its bigger cousin, Cyro.
Cyro is a robotic jellyfish created by Virginia Tech College of Engineering, modeled after the Lion’s Mane Jellyfish. Sporting a 5’7″ diameter bell (on average) and weighing 170 pounds, Cyro is the closest to a human-sized jellyfish we’re going to get.
So why jellyfish? Jellyfish have the amazing ability to move around with very low metabolism rates. This makes it a really good model for autonomous robots like this one. Of course, being the big brother of RoboJelly, what have they improved? First of all they’ve made it larger (obviously). But more importantly, they’ve improved the robot’s skeleton, eight arms powered and controlled by its central electronics. Unlike RoboJelly, Cyro now has a better robotic system. With its larger size, it can carry a larger payload: in this case, Cyro’s electronic guts, which are carried by its squishy silicone skin.
In this video, Cyro is tested in Virginia Tech’s “diving well,” a 14-foot deep swimming pool, moving from 8 feet down to the surface using only its pulsating movements. However, Cyro can only currently move in the up-down direction.
Scientists have stated various possible uses for Cyro, most notably for deep sea exploration. But also, when comparing side by side with RoboJelly, something more interesting to biologists might be the relationship between jellyfish propulsion and surface area or size. Cyro is still in its early stages of development, however, so only time will tell what its destiny is.
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