Robot fish sent out to find pollution

A shoal of robotic fish will soon be released by scientists into the waters of the port of Gijon, in northern Spain.

The robots will enable an analysis of water quality.

The first robotic fish ever have small chemical sensors to find water pollutants and go to their source, likely to be underwater pipelines and leaks from ships.

The robots will send information using Wi-Fi equipment when they dock for battery recharging.

These can be used for nearly eight hours.

They cost almost £20,000 each and are lifelike in looks, being modelled on carp and how they swim, so they should not frighten other marine creatures.

Each fish is almost 1.5 metres long and can swim at one metre per second. The robots operate independently, and not by remote-control.

The fish were designed by the University of Essex together with BMT Group, independent risk management and engineering consultants, both of the UK.

The European Commission financed the three-year design project.

Rory Doyle, senior BMT Group research scientist said deploying the fish may seem like science fiction but the design of the robotic fish harnesses many millions of years’ of evolution to create the excellent energy efficiency needed to keep the pollution sensors moving around underwater for many hours.

Doyle added the fish will transmit data for the analysis of chemicals dissolved in the water.

Professor Huosheng Hu of the University of Essex School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering and his robotics group designed and built the fish.

He expects to introduce them into the water by the end of 2010.

Professor Hu said he is very excited about the work. He hopes that hazardous spillage at sea can be reduced since they will worsen until they are found, he added.

If the robotic fish work successfully, the fish may be deployed to locate sources of pollution in seas, lakes and rivers in the UK and around the world.