Author: jacheng@andrew.cmu.edu

Project Objectives The objective of this project was to create an ecosystem of swimming jellyfish robots that could actuate soft tentacles underwater to produce movement. In terms of an artistic vision, we wanted to create a peaceful and calming piece. We aimed to create two types of jellyfish: one jellyfish that is fully actuated with
Continue reading Jellyfish | Jasmine and Aaron

This week we worked on direct control of the jellyfish arms. We made 2 motions: “pulse” and “wiggle”. Pull will actuate and then release all arms in short succession. Wiggle will actuate one arm at a time sequentially. We used circuit python with the Pico board. Unfortunately Hunt library closed so we took the robot
Continue reading Jasmine and Aaron Weekly Report

This week, we made a successful jellyfish with all 3 pumps. This is the same body as the previous week but we added more tolerance to the mold and were more careful during the bonding process. We also used the UV florescent pigment to the flap of the jellyfish and tested the effect with the
Continue reading Aaron and Jasmine | Weekly Report

This week’s progress This week we were able to successfully integrate 1 motor pump into the body of the jellyfish. We desired the mold to allow for 3 motor pumps to be attached, one on each tentacle of the jellyfish. However, during the bonding process, 2 of the air channels from the motor pump to
Continue reading Jasmine and Aaron | Weekly report 3

Objectives for this week Update the tentacle shape to prevent inflating and cause bending. Create new mold, and fabricate the new jellyfish Test the new jellyfish in the tank Stretch goal: test with pneumatic system Summary of Week Results We created a new jellyfish tentacle design that had smaller cavities and air channel so that
Continue reading Jasmine and Aaron | Weekly report 1

For this iteration, I made a larger version of the same 4-legged jellyfish from part 2. However, the rim was still too thin and thus made it difficult to bond. I tried a different strategy in which I bonded the outside edge of the top piece to the inside edge of the bottom piece, which
Continue reading Jasmine | Mold 3

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19NSxu581vx46fJMrZhjlLrBqLeQ-lO6b/view?usp=sharing Volume of part: 7084.63 cubic millimeters

Sketches: 1. Silicone Molding Practice 2. Actuation Mechanism Testing Materials: Near clear Ecoflex Silicone Ecoflex 00-30 Waterproof coating (XTC-30) Fish tank Mini Submersible Water Pump DC 3-6V 120L/H Hobby Servo Tubing Pneumatic pumps Hand pump Joint Bibliography: https://www.instructables.com/Soft-Robotic-Jellyfish/ L. Hines, K. Petersen, G. Z. Lum, and M. Sitti, “Soft Actuators for Small-Scale Robotics,” Advanced Materials,
Continue reading Jasmine and Aaron | Project Sketching and Materials

I made a mold for a tentacle. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XCO9WWDMAYbIDKoVfZ8EF5DDniAaOMA4/view?usp=sharing

Revised Synopsis The project idea is a swimming robotic jellyfish, that would be propelled by the motion of its body and legs contracting. The jellyfish would be mostly constructed of soft silicon materials, with either pneumatic or hydraulic actuators installed to create motion. If a pneumatic system is used, the components of the pneumatic system
Continue reading Jasmine | Research Study B