  It has been a great challenge to develop robots that are able to perform
complex movement patterns with high speed and, simultaneously, high accuracy.
Copepods are animals found in freshwater and saltwater habitats that can have
extremely fast escape responses when a predator is sensed by performing
explosive curved jumps. Here, we present a design and build prototypes of a
combustion-driven underwater soft robot, the "copebot", that, like copepods, is
able to accurately reach nearby predefined locations in space within a single
curved jump. Because of an improved thrust force transmission unit, causing a
large initial acceleration peak (850 Bodylength*s-2), the copebot is 8 times
faster than previous combustion-driven underwater soft robots, whilst able to
perform a complete 360{\deg} rotation during the jump. Thrusts generated by the
copebot are tested to quantitatively determine the actuation performance, and
parametric studies are conducted to investigate the sensitivities of the input
parameters to the kinematic performance of the copebot. We demonstrate the
utility of our design by building a prototype that rapidly jumps out of the
water, accurately lands on its feet on a small platform, wirelessly transmits
data, and jumps back into the water. Our copebot design opens the way toward
high-performance biomimetic robots for multifunctional applications.
