
The project, headed by Prof. Huosheng Hu of the University of Essex, School of Computer Science & Electronic Engineering, is dedicated to monitoring water pollution.
The robotic fish are 1.5 metres long, and can travel at top speeds of 3.6km/h (2.2mph). They were specially designed to look natural in their environment, designed after careful consideration and fish observation.
While autonomously navigating through the water, the robotic fish have sensors that detect the presence of water-borne pollutants.
Although the idea of a school of robotic fish independently collecting data seems a little sci-fi, there is no more efficient way yet to collect marine pollutant data. Endless hours of streaming data, from changing locations and multiple sources will become a vital pollutant mapping technique.