Mantabot, manta ray inspired robot, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Professors Alexander Smits (Princeton) and Hilary Bart-Smith (University of Virginia) decided to arrange a competition between their students to see who could design the best manta ray inspired robot. Mohammad Javed '11, a mechanical engineering major, took on the project as a senior thesis and represented Princeton. His manta bot, which uses a single sheet of plastic and four thin steel cables in each fin, takes a test swim in the Woodrow Wilson School fountain in this video, courtesy of Javed.

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Professor Hilary Bart-Smith describes her work on the "Mantabot" project, and the future implications of bio-mechanical engineering

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