Scientific Robofishes - More Than Just Little Swimmers (VIDEO)

It is fun to watch fishes play and swim underwater. Don’t you think it is also enjoyable to see robotic fishes doing their tricks underwater?

Robofishes are robotic fishes roughly the size of a 10-pound salmon that actually look like fishes because they are designed with fins instead of propellers. The fins are used so that they can easily maneuver. The fins also let the robofish to create a lower drag as compared to propeller-driven vehicles.

These robofishes are used to cooperatively track moving targets underwater like groups of whales or spreading plumes of pollution. They are also helpful in exploring caves, exploring underneath ice-covered waters and dangerous environments where surfacing is not quite possible. Engineers are integrating the robofishes too in the study of the behaviors of different fishes underwater specifically the way they interact with each other.

The only challenge being faced by the engineers is the process of transmitting the information under dense water. According to one of the engineers, 80 bytes or around 32 numbers per second is the excellent figure given the underwater circumstance. This may be difficult for the robofishes since they limited battery power.