RobotFish
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Robot fish glides out of Michigan State University, tells you if the water is clean
Autonomous fish might make great leaders, but it turns out that robot flippers are a huge drain on battery life. Not a problem for Xiaobo Tan -- he and a group of Michigan State University scientists have built a robotic fish that glides through the water. Tan says the machine, dubbed Grace (Gliding Robot ACE), swims too , but the constant flipper movement can kill the battery in just a few hours. "This is why we integrated both locomotion modes," he explained. "Such integration allows the robot to adapt to different environments, from shallow streams to deep lakes." Grace is designed to scour lakes and rivers for data to help cleaning efforts, and older prototypes have successfully found traces of crude oil in once spoiled riverbeds. The redesigned robot looks more like an airplane than a fish, but it's hard to argue with results -- the team says Grace should be able to glide through the water almost indefinitely. Check out the team's press release after the break.
Robo-fish swim into the ocean's funk, so you don't have to
Gene Roddenberry would have you believe that space is the final frontier. But really, the deep blue sea is more apt for that distinction. And without mega-rich hobbyists to fund exploratory plunges into those uncharted depths, science has had to seek out an alternative, more cost-effective means. Enter the robotic fish. Measuring five feet in length (1.5 meters), lasting up to eight hours and costing about $32,000 (£20,000), these cyborg swimmers are made to boldly go where no man should -- that is, into contaminated waters. The project -- a joint collaboration between the University of Essex and Strathclyde, the Tyndall National Institute and defense contractor Thales Safare (cue ominous Jaws soundtrack) -- aims to cut down on the time it traditionally takes to collect samples and determine corresponding levels of water pollution. The sensor-laden bots apparently swim just like the real thing and, if a recent trial off the coast of Gijon, Spain pans out, could very soon "school" their mass-produced way into other maritime endeavors. No word on whether these automated pesce will be able to detect the piscio in your pool, but there's always the purple water for that.
Robot fish get upgraded, keep schooling real-life counterparts
Okay, so they still look like Depression-era bath toys, but Maurizio Porfiri's robot fish have come a long way from the coconut-and-tin-foil look they were sporting last summer. In an attempt to further "close the loop" between robotics and nature, Porfiri has continued to tinker with the little leaders by incorporating diving and surfacing into their aquatic repertoire, and it seems to be working: real fish have shown interaction patterns including tracking, gathering, and following in the presence of the pesci-bots. Now if they could just do the same with the the feral ferret living in our bedroom walls...
Robot fish demonstrates leadership, could lead real aquatic life to safety (video)
It may look like a lobotomized coconut and a stray bit of tin foil, but Maurizio Porfiri's robot fish is something we don't see often: an attempt to naturally control wildlife. With an electroactive polymer locomotion system designed to mimic the powerful motions of fish leaders, his fake fish can trick schools of real ones to follow. The idea is to one day steer helpless creatures away from dangerous objects like turbines, but there's still loads of work to do before then -- presently, the robot can only swim in two dimensions, and requires a battery to operate. Porfiri's team at NYU Poly is already researching ways to harvest energy from the water itself, though, and he expects to have his fish powered by waves before long. Watch an early prototype in action after the break.
Schools of robotic fish to collect data, stomp out human threat
Robotic fish. The phrase alone sends shivers of excitement down our collective spines here at Engadget. Undoubtedly, Michigan State University assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering Xiaobo Tan feels similarly, as he has designs on creating an army of them. The researcher has developed a prototype of a droid fish intended to be used to collect data from various bodies of water. The fish will be especially effective in monitoring conditions over long periods of time; swimming in a manner similar to that of their organic counterparts, thus giving scientists a clearer view of ecosystem changes. Elena Litchman, an assistant professor of zoology at MSU working with Tan says, "With these patrolling fish we will be able to obtain information at an unprecedentedly high spatial and temporal resolution." To recreate realistic movement, Tan has constructed fins built from electro-active polymers, which bend when voltage is applied, mimicking muscle tissue. Tan also envisions a version of the robots with infrared sensors used as "eyes," and other variations with small, deadly lasers mounted on their backs, to protect their waterways from careless, polluting humans, who have been deduced as illogical and must be wiped out. We might have made that last part up, but we'll never tell. While you try and figure it out, enjoy a video of one of the protypes in action after the break. [Via PhysOrg]
Gymnobot looks to fish for inspiration, a little companionship
Alright, so it may not be quite as terrifying as something like Carnegie Mellon's robotic snake or NC State's remote-control bats, but this so-called Gymnobot from the University of Bath does boast some animal-mimicking abilities of its own and, if all goes as planned, it could eventually grow a whole lot bigger. Its secret is a single fin underneath its body that mimics the way a knifefish swims, which just so happens to also be an extremely efficient way for a robot to propel itself through the water. That, the researchers say, could eventually be adapted for larger autonomous or remotely operated vehicles, would be able to maneuver in shallow water and other areas that are problematic for propeller-driven craft. Head on past the break to check it out in action.
Video: MIT robofish set to snoop the deep seas
MIT has been at this robotic fish lark for a long, long time, and its latest iteration is a true testament to all the effort and energy put in. The first prototype, 1994's Robotuna, was four feet long and had 2,843 parts driven by six motors, whereas the new robofish is no longer than a foot, carries one motor and has exactly ten components, including the flexible polymer body. The hardy and relatively inexpensive drones can be used as substitutes for AUVs in tight spaces, inhospitable environments and the like, but their earliest adopters are likely to be supervillains in need of surveillance bots for their moats. Video after the break. [Via CNN]
Robofish communicate with each other, engage in synchronized swimming
Traditional fish should definitely start keeping their guard up, as we've seen a noticeable influx of robotic alternatives flapping around here recently. Joining the school today is the Robofish, a robotic swimming creature developed at the University of Washington. Reportedly, a trio of the units have been built, and during a recent workshop, the bots were able to communicate with one another and successfully swim in either one direction or in different directions. Eventually, researchers hope that these mechanical animals could explore underwater caves, track moving targets or plunge beneath ice sheets, but there's still work to be done before the creature's coordination ability is up to the challenge. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...[Via Slashdot]
POPO the robotic fish / marshmallow wannabe
Look, we never claimed to be fish-ologists or anything like that, but we really don't have the foggiest idea of how this thing works. Sure, it has rechargeable batteries for up to 24 hours of swimming, and ultrasound for object avoidance, and even a cool robotic-fish sounding name: "POPO." We're just totally in the dark as to where the propulsion system is on this thing, or what portions of the bot we're supposed to hug and kiss in moments of weakness when the cute-itude sweeps over us. Apparently this is a second-gen fish bot from the ITRI Creative Laboratory's Aqua project, but words of legitimacy like that won't saw us until we've seen some solid video and / or action shots.[Via Crave]
