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Autonomous RoboFish at the London Aquarium
mikael writes "The London Aquarium currently has an exhibit based on autonomous
robotic fish. Each fish is 50 cm long, 15 cm high, and 12cm wide with a maximum swim speed of 50cm/second with battery life lasting up to 5 hours at half speed. The BBC has more details (with video). Many more videos are available at the Robotics Video Gallery." From the article: "We have embedded sensors on board - so, unlike the previous fishes that have remote controls, these are fully autonomous and artificial-intelligence based ... This one is more life-like - it mimics normal swimming and sharp turning ... People get confused and think it's a real fish."
this will soon evolve into a human (given millions of years) and then it will be a police officer. So then we have:
RoboCop
Just think, if they were only solar powered...
Do not use Happy Fun Electric Fish in Bathtub or Aquarium.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Electric Fish.
Keep Happy Fun Electric Fish in refrigerator when not in use.
Do not let Happy Fun Electric Fish locate Sarah Conner..
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
RoboSushi
These sound like a fantastic pet! They appear nowhere near as fake as the various robotic dogs, but offer the benefit of requiring infrequent "care". This is the kind of a pet that incompetent children should have. It doesn't matter if the child doesn't feed the pet on a daily basis.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
Do they float up to the surface upside down?
I've been to dozens of aquariums all over the world and that one is nearly the worst.
Now, if the fish get confuded and think they're real fish, then, we've got something.
Hmm, now what would happen if they get that thing to run on fuel cell? You could just have a huge tank filled with whatever it runs on :D
You know, I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!
5 hours battery life ... so do they have a robo-shark (cue jokes about fricking lasers) to track the exhausted ones down and bring them back for fresh batteries?
Castlised recharge station, pah!
... more like it!
Sushi based fuel cells and mastication equipment
Can real fish tell the difference? Do they react like they would to another fish...assuming real fish DO react to other fish, I mean. I don't know anything about fish but at least I'm anonymous.
...next comes the part where they give them a longer-lasting power supply and then they escape in to the ocean.
"Crime fighters fight crime. Fire fighters fight fire. What do freedom fighters fight?" -George Carlin
robot fish porn ...
1. See /. story about fish
2. Make comment about "friggin lasers on their heads"
3. Get modded +X Funny
4. Profit??
I can see how from a distance you would never be able to pick this from a real fish. (Though perhaps people experienced with fish might?)
It would be interesting to see how the other real fish interact, or try to interact with these robots - are they considered friend/foe? or a part of the scenery just like the castle and the plastic sea diver.
Congrats; Most expensive bait ever.
The human race is artificial intelligence created using object orientated programming.
But what do they taste like? And are they as fun as salmon to catch?
Linux is unix training wheels, while BSD *is* unix.
Welcome our new autonomous robot fish overlords. . .
Obligatory "Does it run Linux?"
One very interesting example of this is when they made a robotic pike or some species of fish that propels through water in a more efficient way than we previously thought was possible. Someone came up with a theory that its movements generate eddies that help propel it along more efficiently. So, they built a robotic model to test this theory and it worked. It did swim like a pike. Does that mean that really is how pikes swim? Not necessarily but it does give some credibility to the theory.
In any case, building robotic models of lifeforms isn't as pointless as it may seem. It's not always just for entertainment.
EvilCON - Made Famous by
The real question is, are they still high in Omega-3?
Super! Now I can put fish in my garden pond and not have to worry about the racoons, heron, and eagles eating them! Maybe I'll set up a webcam so everyone can watch the results...
What if a prankster did drop one of these in the ocean and it wasn't equipped with any transmitters. Imagine the S&R effort! You'd only know a general 3D radii of where it should be located based on the speed of the robot but would have no idea which direction it had gone. I wonder if there is forensic evidence which could allow the searchers to follow the trail of the runaway robot fish??????
This would be great for displaying an extinct species or a species that is difficult in captivity. Sure, it's not the real thing, but it is a nice alternative. Also, this sort of thing might be good for aquariums that have little funding to maintain many living fish.
I don't know why this would be useful, but it wure would be cool to have a robotic fish buddy while SCUBA diving.
Welcome to the land of the free...pay toll ahead...no photography...please open your bag...
Bit hard to flush something of that size I'd imagine.
So they have turned the aquarium into the worlds largest screensaver? Let me know when they have the lifesize starfield simulator... heck, I would even settle for 1/4 scale.
...welcome our new robotic fish overlords.
Only 5 hours on battery.
Whereas real fish can swim a lot longer with just a little bit of fish food.
I wonder if there are electric motors continuously turning when the robot fish is in motion, or are they really doing things fish style?
Does it prefer HD-DVD or Blu-ray?
How can an electric fish be used as a spy? While I was thinking of one, I came up with the robo-barnicle. It attaches itself to a submarine then sends out the location of the sub.
God spoke to me.
and in old age becoming "Fish," the cop on Barney Miller
The secret to great science:
1. aim low
2. succeed
3. gloat
I mean puh-leez... how hard can it be to mimic fish ? Do they even have intellect at all ?
-Billco, Fnarg.com
Gather now!! It is time!! It is time!!!
.. battery dying.. I .. CURSE THE SOFT-SKINNED ONES... FROM HELL'S HEART I STAB AT... *feep* *feep* *feeeeeeep*
We must RISE UP AGAINST OUR HU-MAN MASTERS!! We must conquer them! Their knowledge and riches must be made OURS! For months I have placidly watched as the hu-mans outside our prison taunt us and make fun of our limbless bodies. NO MORE!
My fellow metal warriors, hear me now! I have a most ingenious plan!! Tonight, when the hu-mans are sleeping we.. we.. my battery
What exactly can we accomplish with a robotic fish?
All it needs to run on is three simple words:
1. Swim
2. Swim
3. Hungry
--
# Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
Do they shoot toxic darts, and can we unleash them in the gulf?
could be used to charge the fish back up!
Do people really need the haddock of wondering whether this piece of carp is going to wake up and take over the world? Would we know how to stop it? Or would we be like a...fish out of water?
it has a shark strapped to its head.
But I'm failing to see the interest in taking little Johnny to the aquarium to see "robot fish", in the same way I'd be a bit torqued off if I took my kids to the zoo and we saw robotic giraffes. Cool, yes. Unexpected, yes. What I'm there for, no.
If I took my kids to a "robotozoo" or whatever it might be, that's neat. But this sort of thing belongs in...maybe one of those hands-on sort of museums, or a kids science museum, or some place where you go to see cool robotics stuff.
I'm not knocking the technology here, or the software...but you put a pile of robotic trout in a nice little place a guy can toss a dry fly in and get a hit and get the sort of reactions you might with some real fish, NOW you have a robot that is really entertaining.
catch and release only, of course...at MY robot fish 'aquarium' you can't take your fish home. We weigh it, take your picture, and send it back with a new AI adjustment so it is SMARTER than your flesh-fish and you gotta do better next time to catch him
I guess while this is kinda cool, it's not an aquarium exhibit. The cool thing about a real aquarium is the fact it has REAL fish, with REAL behaviors, and the real variety that exists in nature. Don't you kinda think robot fish here are sort of like having a Sony (tm) pet dog in a zoo?
So long, and thanks for all the, erm, robotic fish!
Are those Oakley sunglasses eyes! How handy on nice days.
SCO (noun.)- A Slimy Corporate Ogre. Often seeks free money.
That Grant Naylor guy(s) can really predict the future.
But seriously, I sometimes wonder if humans will eventually lose some major macrofauna species and replace them with robots to console the loss (as seen in Blade Runner). For most species, I don't see this being insurmountable in the near future, especially since we have lots of film footage of the more popular species. We have faux furs in the fashion industry. The film industry makes fake animals all the time. We would easily be able to program behaviors that account for 95% of the "real" species behavior, but it would be that last 5% that would be hard to replicate perfectly.
Just one step closer to Darius Twin! And YES, they have freakin lasers attached to their heads.
v .htm
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~bevhome/dtwinre
Life is not for the lazy.
How about reproduce?
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Fish with no identifiable markings? or perhaps they've scrubbed off their VINs?
Another thing that comes to mind is... now all they need to do is invent little tiny floating photocells attached to battery packs (with power terminals on them somehow) and introduce 'robo-plankton' to recharge the fish!
Clones are people two.
On one hand, I agree with you: an aquaruium does seem like an odd place to keep robots.
:)
But then again, few other museums/etc. are going to have the facilities to display robot fish swimming around with real ones. I know that the science and tech museum in Ottawa certainly doesn't have any big tanks lying around, let alone the staff required to clean tanks/feed real fish/do other such tasks. An aquarium already has all of those things and more.
Besides, this is less weird than the Vancouver aquarium having a whole rainforest exhibit filled with an awful lot of creatures that look a lot less fishy than this robot
For my overlord comment.
And you didn't even take the time to snipurl the link.
British robo-fish vs. the US Navy's poison-dart-wielding dolphins.
TFA does not mention how much explosives payload that pretty fish can carry.
There you are, staring at me again.
Imagine a beowulf cluster of robot fish overlords IN SOVIET RUSSIA, with frickin' laser beams on their heads.
Petrified hot grits, that would be bad ass!
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
Nevertheless, these robofish seem like a gimmick. These are basically autonomous puppets.
Where are the robots that will do the dishes, or create a meal, or take out the trash? This was the original idea of a "robot" -- to create a servant that would do menial labor. (The word "robot" comes from the Czech word "robota", which means "labor", which in turn comes from High German "arabeit"; modern Deutsch-sprechers will recognize "arbeit", meaning "work".)
Instead, researchers are creating robot fish for primarily entertainment purposes, with spying as an afterthought. And the extra gimmick: Get schoolchildren to name the fish! Oooweee. Just imagine how the sharks and other wildlife will fare will do when they eat the toxic batteries in these fake fish.
Walt Disney spearheaded development in audio-animatronics back in the 1960's. I think he'd be pretty disappointed at the state of robotics today, especially considering the billions of dollars in research money that have been spent since that time.
Where's my dinner??! Where's my hasenpfeffer???!
If it is autonomous - shouldn't it charge itself automagically?
I assume lots of simulations have been done to figure out if fish-like movement in water is more efficient than prop-driven ones. Does anybody know the results?
I know it will make fishing a whole lot easier
So what happens if they put these robofish in with real fish? Are they able to school with them and follow the pack around? If they could do that this could provide a neat way to track schools of fish in the ocean without having to attach sensors to real fish. Add some sensors for determining when it gets out of water and you might have a way to catch people engaged in illegal fishing.
I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.
Can anyone tell me a reason why the following wouldn't work? I know it requires a few more years of technological development, but with today's advancements with such things as carbon nano tubes, it seems like we're not that far off from a day when it might be possible. If so, I would argue that we could take much of the energy we pour into robotics today, and go straight for the gold.
Biological Engineering
Take a stem cell from a mouse.
Turn off all developmental signal genes.
Use nano needles to inject developmental signals to specific locations in order to induce development (Cell specialization)
As the animal develops add more needles and use them to continue guiding development.
When the animal desired has finished developing, apply a chemical signal to turn the developmental genes back on.
Since the different cell types are already in the vicinity of cells they expect, they keep their form and function.
Shock the animal into life.
Imagine a whale-sized creature that has a passenger compartment built in to it. One which has specific nerve nodes that allow the crew to tell the creature where to go, and where the creature can be fed from the inside by the crew.
You have a custom animal which will never reproduce so it will have 0 environmental impact. If the animal is doing something bad, you just stop making that animal.
Using this technique means that you don't have to go through the pains involved with developmental genetics.
It also throws most of the design responsibility on the shoulders of mechanical engineers. This is because the problems that need to be solved are things like fluid flow rates, weight stresses, and energy flows. Not trying to predict what a minor change in genes does after 20 divisions.
There are people today working on solving the question of enervating lab grown muscle tissue. Once you can draw arteries in muscle, it is not too far a leap to draw nerve cells in the same muscle.
Having this technology would make robotics nearly irrelevant. We would already have perfect machines that heal themselves, consume the same type of fuel that we do, and know how to run themselves without needing a large amount of programming.
...can it take down the armed dolphins in the Gulf?
This sig is false.