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Robot fish to find oil, gas leaks


Published Mar 20, 2009
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robot fish BMT Group
illus. courtesy BMT Group

Robot fish could soon be patrolling offshore zones suspected of leaking hydrocarbons, if the brainchild of U.K. scientists succeeds in a test release of the Francken-species at a Spanish port.

The carpy fishoids are to be let loose off Gijon, northern Spain under a research project funded by the European Union. It is hoped the Franckenfish do not scare or startle local species.

The fishy research is being co-ordinated by BMT Group Ltd, an engineering and risk-management consultancy based in a London suburb.

“If successful, the research team hopes the fish will be used in rivers, lakes and seas across the world, including Britain, to detect pollution,” a BMT statement said.

The gadgets, described as “life-like creatures”, will carry chemical sensors to find the sources of hazardous pollutants in water, such as vessels and pipeline leaks.

“Thanks to Wi-Fi technology, they will then be able to transmit the information to a control centre via a "charging hub", where the fish can recharge their batteries,” a statement said.

“Previous” robotic fish were remote controlled, but these will have “autonomous navigation” so they can “swim independently around … without any human interaction,” much like today’s warfighting tech.

Rory Doyle, senior research scientist at BMT Group, described the project as a "world first" for detecting pollution.

"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,” Doyle said, adding the fish can swim for hours before recharging.

Chemicals both floating and dissolved will be analysed by the mini robots.

The five fish are being built by Professor Huosheng Hu and his robotics team at the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex. He hopes to release them into the water by the end of 2010.

The fish cost £20,000 to make and are 1.5 metres long, or roughly the size of fish-predator No. 1, the seal.

A Youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSibkb6aKHM shows the robots in their ... element.




   

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