An Atlantic razor clam (left) and the robotic clam known as RoboClam. (Donna Coveney, Amos Winter / MIT )
Scientists have created a prototype of a robotic clam (dubbed RoboClam) which could come in handy for a variety of undersea jobs, the Los Angeles Times reports.
According to the Times, researchers from the University of Maryland and MIT modeled their robot on the Atlantic razor clam, which is skilled at burrowing by softening hard-packed sand and then digging in. Current manmade diggers can’t match the real-life clam’s efficiency.
A team at MIT is now working on a bigger clambot. Robots based on the concept could eventually prove useful in surveying the ocean and laying undersea data cables.
But, as the Times notes, “Don’t try and stick this clam in your chowder.”
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