Mankind’s attempts to create robotic humans that move exactly like us have so far been far from perfect. They usually stumble around, desperately trying to keep their balance like a toddler taking its first steps. But recreating the natural motions of underwater creatures like sea turtles? We’ve damn near perfected that.
Naro — tartaruga is a robotic sea turtle developed by researchers at ETH Zurich University, and as these pool tests demonstrate, it moves with such ease underwater that it appears to have been born beneath the waves. Its flippers have an incredibly lifelike motion, and were it not for the giant clear dome where its head should be, it could easily be mistaken for one of mother nature’s creations. [ETH Zurich via Automaton]