Your average autonomous underwater vehicle (or AUV) uses propellers or jets to maneuver underwater, but Finnegan the RoboTurtle, described as an "agile and aggressively maneuvering biomimetic autonomous underwater vehicle," is shaking things up with a new way to get around — with oscillating foils. After all, you don't see turtles or dolphins out there with props. The foils allow Finnegan to enjoy a high degree of maneuverability in confined spaces and high speed in open water, which is key for an AUV which will switch between traversing bodies of water and exploring underwater wrecks.

Click Continue to see a video of Finnegan in action or check out the gallery below for shots of the RoboTurtle in various stages of development.

MIT Towing Tank, via Communist Robot, via BotJunkie