New robotic fish glides indefinitely
Photo by G.L. Kohuth, Michigan State University. |
A
high-tech robotic fish hatched at Michigan State University has a new look. A
new skill. And a new name. MSU scientists have made a number of improvements on
the fish, including the ability to glide long distances, which is the most
important change to date. The fish now has the ability to glide through the water
practically indefinitely, using little to no energy, while gathering valuable
data that can aid in the cleaning of our lakes and rivers.
Designed
and built by Xiaobo Tan, MSU associate professor of electrical and computer
engineering, and his team, the fish is equipped with an array of sensors that
not only allow it to travel autonomously, but also measure water temperature,
quality and other pertinent facts.
"Swimming
requires constant flapping of the tail," Tan said, "which means the
battery is constantly being discharged and typically wouldn't last more than a
few hours."
The
disadvantage to gliding, he said, is that it is slower and less maneuverable.
"This
is why we integrated both locomotion modes -- gliding and swimming -- in our
robot," Tan said. "Such integration also allows the robot to adapt to
different environments, from shallow streams to deep lakes, from calm ponds to
rivers, with rapid currents."
The
robot's ability to glide is achieved through a newly installed pump that pushes
water in and out of the fish, depending on if the scientists want the robot to
ascend or descend. Also, the robot's battery pack sits on a kind of rail that
moves backward and forward, in sync with the pumping action, to allow the robot
to glide through water on a desired path.
The
robotic fish now has a name: Grace, which stands for "Gliding Robot
ACE."
Late
last year Tan and his team took Grace for a test drive on the Kalamazoo River,
where it exceeded all expectations.
"She
swam at three sites along the river and wirelessly sent back sensor
readings," Tan said. "I'm not sure, but we may have set a world
record -- demonstrating robotic fish-based sampling with commercial
water-quality sensors in a real-world environment."
The
KalamazooRiver is, of course, the site of a 2010 oil spill. Interestingly, the
robot's crude oil sensor had some readings upriver from where the spill
occurred, although the readings downstream from the spill site were higher.
Underwater
gliders, or seagliders, are becoming more common in oceanography. In fact, one
traveled all the way across the Atlantic Ocean in late 2009.
One
major difference in Grace is that, aside from its swimming capability, it is
about 10 times smaller and lighter than a commercial underwater glider.
Tan's
research is supported by the National Science Foundation.
Source: Michigan State University
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