Robotic fish to detect shipping pollution

摘要

Shoals of robotic fish, armed with sensors, navigation and communications technology, could soon be helping to rid harbours of chemical pollution. A total of €2.8 million of EL) funding has been awarded to a research consortium of scientists and engineers from UK universities to produce five prototype 'fish' for a trial in the Spanish port of Gijon.rnReleased into the water from March 2012, the autonomous robots will be fitted with chemical analysis tools, allowing them collectively to build up a detailed map of shipping pollutants and leaks from local pipelines, and relay this information to the shore. Sonar sensors implanted on the seabed and coastal walls will transmit signalsrnto and from the fish - while a GPS system in their fins will orientate the shoal's position.