Project URSULA: Design of a Robotic Squid for Underwater Manipulation

With this paper, the design of a biomimetic robotic squid (dubbed URSULA) developed for dexterous underwater manipulation is presented. The robot serves as a test bed for several novel underwater technologies such as soft manipulators, propeller-less propulsion, model mediated tele-operation with video and haptic feedback, sonar-based underwater mapping, localization, and navigation, and high bandwidth visible light communications. Following the finalization of the detailed design, a prototype is manufactured and is currently undergoing pool tests.