Like their natural role model, the AquaJellies glide elegantly and seemingly effortlessly through the water. This is ensured by their adaptive tentacles, which are controlled by an electric drive in their body. The integrated communication and sensor technology plus the real-time diagnostics enable coordinated, collective behaviour of several jellyfish, even in a limited space.
The AquaJellies were unveiled for the first time at the Hannover Messe in 2008. Since then, our developers have been constantly working on improved communications technology and on the condition monitoring of the individual jellyfish on a smartphone. An app can be used to individually record and track the current condition of each AquaJelly.
Thanks to real-time diagnostics, it is possible to make a parameter query about the current battery status, temperature, current power consumption and depth of the jellyfish in the water. A movement profile also shows in which direction the jellyfish in question is swimming.
Each AquaJelly decides independently what action to take next – depending on its state of charge, the orientation of the drive and its proximity to another jellyfish. The overall behaviour of the AquaJellies is emergent. This means that even without the predetermined control of the overall system, common behaviour emerges from the group as a whole due to the simple actions of the individual. This makes the AquaJellies a starting point and source of inspiration for other developments, including for studies of collective behaviour patterns. If this principle is transferred to the field of automation, several autonomous, decentralised systems could be networked for a specific purpose and work together to solve bigger tasks.
The way in which the AquaJellies organise themselves has great significance for automation technology. The communicating technology test beds show how, for example, efficient systems in the area of water technology might look in future. At the same time, they demonstrate innovative developments in system capability, energy efficiency, communication and lightweight structures.