Attachment of an underwater vehicle using the biorobotic remora disc. Attachment of an underwater vehicle using the biorobotic remora disc. (A) The remora disc prototype is connected to the ROV via four springs with low stiffness and four soft silicone pneumatic elastomer actuators. The ROV contains three propellers with a motor power rating of 300 W for each. The mass of the robot is 1.46 kg. (B) Frames of attachment of the robot from movie S6 at various time instants. The ROV with the remora disc prototype performs a successful transition from a swimming mode (propelled by rotors) to the attachment mode (4 s) on a smooth glass surface. For demonstration purposes, we also show the remora disc ROV detaching from the surface and transitioning back into the swimming mode (12 s). For simplification, we used a syringe to pump water into the chamber for balancing the pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the disc chamber for detachment. Scale bar, 50 mm. (C) Remora disc ROV after successful attachment to the surface and attachment against propelling, twisting, and pulling. Scale bar, 50 mm. (D) As with the isolated disc prototype studies, the ROV can successfully attach to various surfaces, including smooth (Plexiglas; left), compliant rough (silicone elastomer; middle), and real shark skin (right). Scale bars, 200 μm. Yueping Wang et al. Sci. Robotics 2017;2:eaan8072 Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works