Scientists in the UK plan to release autonomous robotic fish into the sea off northern Spain to help detect for hazardous pollutants in the water.

The robots are designed to look like carp and swim like real fish so they won't scare the local meat-based wildlife while patrolling the port of Gijon. Each robo-carp costs upwards of approximately 30,000 US dollars to make, measures 1.5 meters long (about the size of a seal) and can swim a maximum speed of about one meter per second (~2.24mph). If successful, the team hopes that the fish will be used in rivers, lakes and seas across the world, including Britain, to detect pollution.

 

The life-like creatures, which will mimic the undulating movement of real fish, will be equipped with tiny chemical sensors to find the source of potentially hazardous pollutants in the water, such as leaks from vessels in the port or underwater pipelines. The fish will then transmit their data through Wi-Fi technology when they dock to charge their batteries, which last around eight hours.

 

Five fish are being built by a robotics team at the University of Essex's school of computer science and electronic engineering. The project has been funded by the European Commission and is coordinated by engineering consultancy firm BMT Group.

 

"In using robotic fish we are building on a design created by hundreds of millions of years' worth of evolution which is incredibly energy efficient," said BMT senior research scientist Rory Doyle. "This efficiency is something we need to ensure that our pollution detection sensors can navigate in the underwater environment for hours on end."

 

Each robot fish is armed with autonomous navigation capabilities, allowing them to swim around the port without the need of human intervention. They can also automatically return to a charging station when their batteries run low after about eight hours of use.

 

Assuming the trial run goes well, scientists hope to use the robo-carp to detect pollution in rivers, lakes, and seas across the world.

 

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