 |
Robotic Fish To Detect Pollution
Robot fish will soon be released into the sea to detect pollution. They will take to the water in the port of Gijon in northern Spain.
The autonomous robot carp will be able to transmit information via Wi-Fi and can return to their central hub to recharge batteries when their power runs low.
(Robot fish video)
These robotic fish seem to be the same as the Robofish Autonomous Fish-bot At London Acquarium, but somewhat larger. See also the robotic fish from china under development for a similar purpose.
The five fish are being built by Professor Huosheng Hu and his robotics team at the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex. He hopes to release them into the water by the end of next year.The fish, which cost around £20,000 to make, will measure 1.5 metres (1.6 yards) in length (roughly the size of a seal) and swim at a maximum speed of about one metre (1.1 yards) per second.
He said: "I am incredibly excited about this project. We are designing these fish very carefully to ensure that they will be able to detect changes in environmental conditions in the port and pick up on early signs of pollution spreading, for example by locating a small leak in a vessel.
SF fans may recall that, in his 2002 story Slow Life, science fiction author Michael Swanwick writes about robot fish who help explore distant worlds:
The Mitsubishi turbot wriggled, as if alive. With one fluid motion, it surged forward, plunged, and was gone.
(Read more about the Mitsubishi turbofish)
Also, in the movie Blade Runner, Deckerd is investigating what looks like a kind of scale. When he asks around on Animoid Row, he is told that it is a manufactured object. Take a look at the top of the scene taken from the movie (below); it clearly shows a mechanical, artificial fish.
(Robotic fish from Animoid Row in Blade Runner)
In the book from which the movie is taken - Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, one of the androids wears a fish scale coat. Artificial, of course. In the future world imagined by Dick, and artistically filled out by Ridley Scott in the movie, all of the animals on Earth had died, or were dying. Only robotic animals remained, as pets.
Update: See also this robotic fish depicted in the series Red Dwarf - thanks Yossi.
(Robotic fish from Red Dwarf)
Take a look at the Red Dwarf robotic fish video. End update.
From BMT; thanks to Moira and D. Wilson for the tip on this story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/22/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion (Back On) ( 3 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'- Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'- Raymond Z. Gallun, 1936.
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'- Philip E. High, 1968.
Bartendro Robot Bartender
'He sipped the cognac that the robot bartender handed him...'- Alfred Bester, 1956.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'
TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.
'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'
Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'
CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'
Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'
Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.
The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'
Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'
Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'
Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!
Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'
Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'
Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organleggers may experience an employment downturn.
Smartphone Sensor System Tracks Gunfire
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...'
Bacteria Now Make Biofuel Like Oil
'They have ... germs that eat pretty near anything, and produce oil as a waste product.'
