Robothalak mérik a környezetszennyeződést

A spanyol partoknál lubickoló géphalak jól szemléltetik, hogy a robotika környezetvédelmi célokra is felhasználható.

Something fishy is going on in northern Spain. The waters of the port of Gijon are shortly to be invaded - by robots. Scientists are building a shoal of robot fish to be let loose in the port to check on the quality of the water. Modelled on carp, the fish are to be lifelike in appearance and swimming behaviour so they will not alarm their fellow marine inhabitants. The robots, the first of their kind, are equipped with tiny chemical sensors capable of detecting pollutants in the water. These let the fish home in on the sources of hazardous pollutants, such as leaks from vessels or undersea pipelines. The fish were developed by the University of Essex in Britain. They are the result of a three-year research project funded by the European Commission. "Using shoals of robotic fish for pollution detection in harbours might appear like something straight out of science fiction [but] there are very practical reasons for choosing this form," said Rory Doyle, senior research scientist. "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. "This efficiency is something we need to ensure that our pollution detection sensors can navigate in the underwater environment for hours on end." Each robotic fish is about 1.5 metres long and can swim at a maximum speed of about one metre per second. Whenever they find traces of pollutants, the fish can relay the information to the shore. The robots are autonomous, rather than remote-controlled, and run on batteries that are recharged every eight hours or so when the fish return automatically to a charging point.

IT3 komment: A robotikai fejlesztések egyik iránya a biológiai modelleket, köztük az embert is valamilyen szinten másoló gépek. Rovarok, hüllők és más állatok mellett, ezúttal halakról mintázott szerkezetek kerülnek ki laboratóriumi környezetükből a – szó szerinti – mélyvízbe. Az Essex Egyetem több éve futó projektje (is) bizonyíték arra, hogy a robotikai alkalmazások messze túlmutatnak a gyárak vagy háztartások kapuin.

Forrás: www.ft.com