MB Era's 'Robot Fish' Idea Revived on an Alien Planet? [Reading Science]

US NASA Begins Development of Miniature Swimming Robots for Exploring Jupiter's Moon Oceans
May Be Deployed on 2024 'Europa Clipper' Mission
Phone-Sized, Multiple Robots Equipped with Various Sensors
"Expands Exploration Range and Targets, Enhancing Detection of Life"

Conceptual diagram of a sensor-type ultra-small robotic swimmer being researched by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The 'robot fish' was developed in South Korea during the Lee Myung-bak administration for water quality investigation but was scrapped due to poor performance and corruption scandals. However, NASA has recently attracted attention by starting the development of a similar concept of robot fish for exploring extraterrestrial planets.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) introduced this research plan on its official website on the 28th of last month. According to the announcement, Eden Schaller, a robotics and mechanical researcher at JPL, submitted a research project titled Sensing With Independent Micro-Swimmers (SWIM) to NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program last year, which supports innovative technology research, and received a total prize of $600,000.

His research team initially received $125,000 in funding for phase one to develop and test a prototype using 3D printing by 2023. The core idea proposed by the team is the 'miniaturization' of the robot. The plan is to minimize the size of the robots so that many can be carried and deployed. The team envisions equipping multiple robots with various sensors capable of detecting different substances, thereby broadening the scope of exploration and diversifying targets. This approach could increase the chances of detecting evidence of possible life forms. The robot is expected to be about 12 cm in length with a volume of approximately 60 to 75 cubic centimeters, roughly the size of a small mobile phone.

Conceptual image of NASA's Europa mission to Jupiter's moon, scheduled for launch in 2024.

In this context, NASA is conducting the Europa Clipper project, targeting launch in 2024 and arrival and exploration in 2030, to investigate Jupiter’s moon Europa, where water is expected to exist in ice form. As part of the Surface Exploration using Seismic and Acoustic Monitoring Experiment (SESAME) program, NASA is developing a hollow exploration robot called the Cryobot, which uses a nuclear battery to melt and penetrate the ice. Considering the size of the robot fish developed by Schaller’s team, 48 of these could be loaded onto the Cryobot while occupying only 15% of its total volume. This leaves ample space for other scientific instruments that can collect data and monitor external conditions while the Cryobot drills through the ice.

Researcher Schaller explained, "My idea is that utilizing ultra-small robots in solar system exploration can pioneer new methodologies. Through swarm exploration of small swimmers, the exploration range can be greatly expanded, and diverse data can be collected even within the same ocean."