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Researchers at the Michigan State University (MSU) are developing a new kind of robot called Robo Fish, which can swim like fish to analyze the underground water environment and quality.
The researchers, Xiaobo Tan and Elena Litchman have been working on the project with a scholarship from the National Science Foundation, U.S.A.
Xiaobo Tan said, "Fishes are very efficient and they can perform very efficient locomotion and maneuvering in the water."
Litchman said, "The robotic fish will be providing a consistent level of data that hasn't been possible before."
"With these patrolling fish, we will be able to obtain information at an unprecedentedly high spatial and temporal resolution. Such data are essential for researchers to have a more complete picture of what is happening under the surface as climate change and other outside forces disrupt the freshwater ecosystems. It will bring environmental monitoring to a whole new level," she added.
The robotic fish will carry out all the conditions associated with water like amount of dissolved oxygen, temperature, types of pollutants and other harmful elements associated with it. The robot can collect data through its sensors.
"This project will greatly advance bio-robotic technology," Tan said.
"The project is very practical and we are designing the fish to be inexpensive so they can be used in various applications like sampling lakes, monitoring aquafarms and safeguarding water reservoirs," he added.
The scientists are also developing swimming and manoeuvre capabilities for the fish, so that it could look real. Apart from that, they will be associated with fin like structures to change shape in water. Shortly they will be associated with eye like sensors to tackle the obstacles.
The robots will be connected directly with a docking station to communicate easily. Similarly the Robo fishes will be linked with each other to get comprehensive information. This will be carried out by the use of GPS technology.
