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Robotic Fish Track Targets, Communicate With One Another
Roland Piquepaille writes "Many of today's underwater robots need to periodically come up to the surface to communicate with their human supervisors. But researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have developed a new kind of underwater vehicle. The 'Robofish' can work cooperatively with each other. 'The Robofish, which are roughly the size of a 10-pound salmon, look a bit like fish because they use fins rather than propellers.' According to the researchers, such robots 'could cooperatively track moving targets underwater, such as groups of whales or spreading plumes of pollution, or explore caves, underneath ice-covered waters, or in dangerous environments where surfacing might not be possible.' Further information and more pictures are also available for these autonomous fin-actuated underwater vehicles."
What about when they gain sentience? It's going to be the end for humanity when they organize in the briny deeps.
People are like slinkies; useless but fun to watch when you push them down the stairs
An Ig Noble award was for Fish Flatulence as a means of communication.
So we just need to create a robotic Bender, that burps and has an exploding ass, to really understand nature.
They talk about trouble with communications while underwater, but the Skin effect describes how in a conductive media (say, seawater), various frequencies of electromagnetic waves are attenuated with distance. In short, high frequencies travel less distance into the material than lower frequencies. This is why the requirements for shielding of different electronics can be very different -- higher operating frequency implies thinner shielding. And of course it's also why submarines use very low frequencies to communicate. (See also LORAN positioning system.)
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Hey code monkey... learn electronics!
What happens when another fish mistakenly eats the robofish?
Can someone translate into black-footed ferrets? We don't use salmon units here, inland.
Instead of calling them "autonomous fin-actuated underwater vehicles", perhaps they could call them "autonomous fin-inducted submarine hybrid" or just AFISH for short...
Will they be given the default bite attack? and what terrain type should I start seeing them in?
we only do it to piss you off. That's the funny punch line.
No one will take them seriously without frikkin' laser beams attached to their heads.
The first time a fisherman accidentally catches one of these things, I have no doubt he'll swear it weighed at least 30 pounds, was half the length of his boat and towed him around the bay for half an hour.
When he realized what he had, of course, he released it.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
/. memes dying, netcraft confirms
"The majority is always sane, Louis." -- Nessus
http://slashdot.jp
I build autonomous underwater mine-hunting vehicles. Beat that, fishy.
They need to make one roughly the size of a killer whale that targets and chases sharks out of areas where people engage in water activities, such as surfing.
"Study your math, kids. Key to the universe." -The Archangel Gabriel
I just wanted to know if they ran linux....or if there comunication was advanced enough to be put in a beowolf cluster
-sent from a blackberry on the rogers network
I don't understand why people try to apply electric motors to linear propulsion. The reason animals use linear propulsion is because they use linear "motors" called muscles.
If we were to develop synthetic muscles, then and only then does linear propulsion make sense. I suppose hydraulics are somewhat similar, but they are not nearly as robust as something based on fibers could be.
Here comes FishNet!
Have gnu, will travel.
I'm just glad that they stuck with fish and didn't decide to make sharks with lasers.
The repetition of the meme doesn't piss me off. The mindlessness of the people who so consistently do it and the worse mindlessness of the people who think it's funny pisses me off. So yeah, what a punch line, making yourself a mindless sheeple follower in order to piss me off. If you decided to cut off your own foot that might get a negative reaction from me too, and then what would you say? Would you say "HAHA I really got you that time you fucker!!"?
I for one... oh, nevermind.
*runs*
A group at the ANU has been working in this field for at least three years now. Their submersible is called the Serafina and more details are available at http://serafina.com.au/
Ongoing research include swarm style movement and problem solving. Each of the submersibles includes a 122kHz long wave radio, there are also ongoing experiments in using LEDs for optical communication.
you need help....
That's why the next logical step would be to put frickin lasers on those robotic fish.
In every one of Roland Piquepaille's submissions he links to his own blog at the nd "Further information...". This of course is just stuff he's plagiarised from the original sites. Slashdot encourages this thief and rewards him by linking him on the front page, elevating his pagerank.
I, for one, welcome our autonomous fin-actuated underwater vehicle overlords.
At least try... how about "fin impelled subaquatic hydrosphere-mobile" -- F.I.S.H.
--- SER