Engineers at Osaka City University recently displayed a small fuel cell powered robotic fish. The fuel cell, a cylindrical solid-polymer fuel cell that utilises hydrogen peroxide to produce oxygen, drives a magnetic actuator that only requires 10 milliwatts to propel the the fish’s forward. Using a small weight to shift the fish’s centre of gravity the researchers were able to make the robot swim in a natural and fish like way. The researchers aim to be able to have the fish swimming continuously for up to three days. With the addition of a camera the researchers envision the robotic fish could one day be used in marine rescue and survey missions. Check out the video after the jump…
via designboom & Diginfo.
I guess since fish are being fished out of existence it kind of makes sense.
Network them together, and I bet there’s an application for them in oceanic research…