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Oarfish Fin Anatomy Inspires Silent Underwater Robot Design
Key Takeaways
- Roboticist Rob Shepherd turned to the oarfish's wave-driven dorsal fin as a model for a large, silent underwater robot.
- Shepherd collaborated with retired Cornell ichthyologist Willy Bemis to study the fish's fin rays.
- A new study in Ichthyology and Herpetology is the first to describe the anatomy and muscles that let each fin ray rotate independently in a full circle, like a joystick.
- Oarfish are rarely studied because their bodies break into segments after death, making intact specimens scarce.
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DT Editorial Team··via phys.org