Water pollution isn’t that easy to detect and the safety of the fishes isn’t well ensured due to the technology today. Luckily, a team of researchers has created a robotic fish that could successfully monitor the water’s PH level and gather data regarding the changes that occurred.
According to Science Daily, researchers from the Centre for Automation and Robotics (CAR CSIC-UPM) along with a team from the University of Florence were the ones responsible for creating the robotic fish. It was then identified that the fish is made up of biosensors to keep track of water quality.
“The concentration of hydrogen ions in the environment is detected by an electrochemical multi-sensor platform. The acquired signal is then transformed into an electronic signal to be used in robot electronics control,” Giovanna Marrazza, an associate professor of analytical chemistry explained. The robotic fish is then enabled to detect areas of acidity or pollutant concentration through its special PH sensors.
The robotic fish was described to be 30 cm long (12 in) with not measuring the tail. The fish was also designed to be bio-mimetic. In which meant that it would swim like a fish so it would reduce stress in aquatic animals. The robotic fish’s "backbone" was also said to be made from 1 mm thick polycarbonate as Digital Trends reported.
Moreover, the robotic fish was also described to have a latex-based skin. It also adopts shape memory alloys actuators in order to have its continuous flexible structure. However, the concept of the robotic fish isn’t ready to be seen in the world. Marazza also said that they are now currently looking for investors interested in the project to aid in their further research funds.
Nonetheless, Claudio Rossi, a developer of the bio-inspired robotic fish concluded that the invention would indeed provide early signs of environmental change in water quality. Ensuring the safety and management decisions of the water farms was also stated to be a benefit from the creation. The project could be looked up under the title name of “Bio-inspired fish robot based on chemical sensors.”
