Olympic swimmer inspired Japanese 'Swumanoid' robots set to be 'lifeguards of future'

Tokyo, Sept. 10 (ANI): Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have unveiled a new robot that could be the lifeguard of the future.

The researchers are currently working on a model that can mimic a human swimmer's whole body motion.

The robot, nicknamed Swumanoid, can swim front crawl at a speed of 0.64 metres per second, just a third of the human world record, as well as backstroke and butterfly.

According to the Daily Mail, Swumanoid has been made to measure water resistance and analyze how people swim, rather than using humans who would get tired of repeatedly doing the same stroke.

The team behind the creation, led by associate professor Motomu Nakashima, hopes that, in the future, robots like Swumanoid can act as lifeguards, patrolling the shores and helping swimmers in distress.

"Since it's a swimming humanoid, it will be able to help people who face danger out in the water, I believe this may be possible in the future," Professor Nakashima said.

"The first purpose of the robot is to measure the energy output of swimmers," he said.

According to the paper, the engineers developed the body of the robot using a 3D scanner to scan an unknown Olympic athlete, before creating a plastic version that can be produced in virtually any size. (ANI)