British Team Designs Robot Fish to Monitor Ocean Pollution

A nearly lifelike fish is the latest achievement of robotics. Uniquely, this fish is completely self guided and mimics the undulating motions of the real thing.

Science fiction by its very nature is prescient. This is been proved by developments in the field of robotics. And increasingly researchers are trying to mimic the natural world through their work. And they are getting close as this news item from U.K shows. British scientists have developed a self automated robotic fish which will be released in the sea off north Spain near Gijon. Its deep sea mission – to seek out pollutants from ocean faring vessels and oil pipelines. The standout feature of the technology is that the five ‘fishes’ are completely self guided. Armed with chemical sensors and connected through Wi-Fi with the handlers, the carp-shaped robots can swim about and do their work without constant human control. It uses sensors and navigational controls to detect and respond to changes in its environment. Though at a length of 1.5 meters, it can hardly be said to be a small ‘fish’, the scientists for the first time have brought the design and its behavior close to that of the actual aquatic denizens. The design of the robot fish came out through the teamwork between the engineering company BMT Group and Essex University. Rory Doyle, a participant researcher says that the ‘close to the real thing’ approach was intentional –

“In using robotic fish we are building on a design created by hundreds of millions of years' worth of evolution which is incredibly energy efficient. This efficiency is something we need to ensure that our pollution detection sensors can navigate in the underwater environment for hours on end."

The sea faring trials will begin next month and if successful, ‘robotica’ as a species could herald a welcome chapter of using cutting edge science against environmental degradation. That could be just a start as the applications could be many from the benign to the belligerent.