Although human exploration of ocean pollution is both necessary and pivotal in terms of environmental awareness, the idea behind this robotic fish is that it can detect areas of pollution in water that humans just can’t get to — and that it can constantly troll for pollution. But how does the robo-fish work, exactly? First of all, it looks and moves just like a real fish (or as close as robotically possible — motorized fin, tail and all). And the robotic fish also has its own GPS tracking system, and wireless sensor that detects trash and other debris.
Currently, a “school” of robo-fish are swimming around in the River Thames, and once they detect a pollutant, they signal other “members” of their school to come, quick. The fish then all take detailed readings of the area, and send signals to human researchers waiting for the results, who then create “real time 3-D maps of pollutants in the water.”
In the future, various “schools” of faux fish may be swimming the depths of seas across the globe, continually working to map out harmful pollutants. Hopefully someday there will be clean-up robo-fish too, to clean up all the crap the others find in the sea.
[Via: Greenopolis]
