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US Navy Designing Faster, More Efficient Drone Subs With ‘Shark Skin’

The US Navy announced that one of its researchers, Nicole Xu, is working on faster, more energy-efficient underwater vehicles with surfaces that mimic shark skin.

Xu, a postdoctoral research associate from the Laboratories for Computational Physics & Fluid Dynamics, is testing bioinspired surfaces on hydrofoils before adding them to vehicles such as the WANDA UUV.

Nicole Xu
Nicole Xu, a US Navy Postdoctoral Research Associate from the Laboratories for Computational Physics & Fluid Dynamics. Photo: US Naval Research Laboratory

This research employs 3D printing of the hydrofoils, which are then tested in a water tunnel, according to the press release.

“Shark skin comprises arrays of teeth-like denticle structures, which contribute to fast and stealthy swimming by turbulent drag reduction,” Xu said.

Naval Research Laboratory Aerospace Engineer Jason Geder describes Xu as demonstrating “extraordinary motivation and initiative, as well as technical expertise in the area of unpiloted systems research.”

Organic Muscle Tissue for Robots

Beyond shark-inspired tech fitted to underwater vehicles, the US Army is seeking to equip robots with organic muscle tissue for added agility and versatility.

The Army Research Laboratory believes that its high-tech equipment could use this real muscle instead of mechanical arms to move and manipulate objects in the environment.

“Though impressive in their own right, today’s robots are deployed to serve a limited purpose then are retrieved some minutes later,” US army research scientist, Dr. Dean Culver explained. “ARL wants robots to be versatile teammates capable of going anywhere Soldiers can and more, adapting to the needs of any given situation.”

In March, the US army also received its first set of semi-autonomous “robot dogs” which have the ability to crouch low and creep into shallow spaces.

Dubbed “Quad-legged Unmanned Ground Vehicles,” the canine-inspired automatons will be used as extra security around a military installation in Florida.

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