Jellyfish-inspired tilt sensor and soft structural material
This technology draws inspiration from jellyfish biology to solve two distinct engineering problems for underwater robots. The tilt sensor works like a jellyfish's balance organ: a small metal ball rolls around inside a chamber lined with resistors, and whichever resistors the ball touches tells the system which way and how far the device is tilted. Separately, the researchers developed a synthetic gel material — polyvinyl alcohol mixed with iron-storing protein particles — that mimics the soft, flexible body tissue of a jellyfish, giving an underwater vehicle the same buoyancy and structural compliance that makes jellyfish such efficient swimmers.
What you could build
A sensor and materials package for bio-inspired autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), sold to defense contractors and ocean research equipment manufacturers building next-generation soft-bodied or energy-efficient undersea drones.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia's dense concentration of naval defense contractors and Navy facilities around Norfolk and the Pentagon corridor — companies like HII, Leidos, and SAIC actively developing undersea autonomous systems — are natural prospects.
Readiness: Lab validated
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Colin SMITH, Shashank Priya
- Granted
- September 29, 2015
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 9146104
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.