In an effort to ward off the dangerous Frankenfish, British scientists at the University of Essex at Colchester have gone into overdrive. While you can fight a monster with another monster, that still leave you with the problem of rivers and streams infested with ugly monster fish. So what’s the solution? Simple. Enter Robofish.
Okay, okay. The robotic fish weren’t developed to fight monsters. They were developed to study waterways, do scientific experiments, and monitor pollution in the formerly-rancid Thames River. The river has made a remarkable recovery in the last 50 years, but there is always a need to keep an eye out for more sources of pollution to prevent the river from becoming a fishy wasteland.
Scientists are looking to turn the prototypes into fully-functioning schools of fish that swim autonomously, communicate with one another via wifi, and move about in schools of five. The fish are cheaper than traditional robots, water-tight thanks to molded polymer skins, and require little to no maintenance once deployed.
Welcome to the glory days of robotics!
Image: Reuters
Tags: robotic fish, robofish, science, studying nature, pollution-finding robots, underwater robot fish, University of Essex, Thames River, London, Great Britain
