Researchers from Sheffield University have created an aquatic robot system that could be used for underwater search-and-rescue operations, or perform inspections on ageing water pipes. The robots, developed by a team from Sheffield's Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering (ACSE), can be assembled into arbitrary shapes, allowing them to be customised to meet the changing demands of their task. Six prototype cubic modules have been assembled with four micro-pumps built into them. They currently float on the surface of water and use their pumps to achieve motion via a process called Modular Hydraulic Propulsion (MHP).
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