Mainly because of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (which I'm pretty sure it is not the first we've seen so far), all of a sudden a robotic fish has shown up, which will someday be able to lead whole schools of fish away from affected areas. I say someday because this robot is in the project phase, waiting to be perfected.

According to Discovery News, Maurizio Porfiri is the head researcher from Polytechnic Institute of New York University working on this project. His job is to determine what exactly turns a fish into a leader and once he has discovered those certain characteristics, he and his team can apply them onto their robotic little fish. The robot is not even completed yet, especially its locomotory system and the team is already thinking of making it “convincing” to other fish. How about a robotic bird, or other sea creatures which are and have been affected by oil spills along history? A robotic seal, perhaps.

Though the group started studying bait fish, they later on discovered that fish travel in schools no matter the species or size. This is why they hope that one day, this robotic fish will be able to infiltrate large schools of fish in a “Neo” kind of way and then redirect them away from potential dangerous scenarios that man creates in their living environment. Of course, the fish have other potential uses, such as scouting oil wells or underwater surveillance.

For now, the fish are capable of swimming with help from batteries and the idea is to make them independent of this technology. One method of getting them off this power source is by making them able to harness energy from small eddies and vibrations in the water. They say fish swim silently, but if you are curious enough to watch the movie on Discovery News, you will hear that they squeak quite loudly and also move in a “smooth-yet-jerky, darting fashion.”


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