Scientists at the University of Essex in UK have been developing robotic fish to patrol waters and test for oxygen levels, contaminants, and oil spills. The robotic fish are about 5 ft long, and will soon be released in the port of Gijon in northern Spain for further testing. They can communicate with each other using ultrasonic waves, and data is relayed to a main control center which doubles as a charging station. These are autonomous robots that are able to avoid obstacles and return to charge automatically when running low on batteries. The fish’s movement is very efficient, and can travel at speeds of 1 m/s with little energy usage. The total battery life of the fish is around eight hours, and in the future it will become longer so that it can patrol more territory. Each fish costs about $30,000 to make, but it is entirely worth it if they are able to uncover environmental problems that could have much more devastating impacts. The entire project was funded by a $3.6 million grant from the European Commission. A gallery and video of one of the smaller prototypes is shown below.

Sources: UEssex, BMT