Engineers at the University of Kitakyushu, have developed ‘Tai-robot-kun’, a 7kg robotic sea bream covered with realistic-looking hand-painted scales.

The robotic fish features a propulsion system that allows it to move its tail and drift silently through the water like a real fish. It can swim for an hour on a full battery charge, and relies on a ballast system, similar to that used in a submarine, to adjust its depth and buoyancy.

According to University of Kitakyushu professor Ikuo Yamamoto, the robot can easily be mass produced, fitted with various cameras and sensors, and released into the sea to perform a range of oceanographic survey tasks, without alarming sea life.

A team at the University of Washington has developed a group of three Robofish that communicate with each other underwater.

While most ocean robots need to periodically surface to communicate with scientists or satellite intermediaries, the ability of these Robofish, which are roughly the size of a 10-pound salmon, and use fins rather than propellers for increased manoeuvrability, to communicated underwater mean they need not surface until the their task is complete.

Kristi Morgansen, from the University of Washington, explained: “Underwater robots don’t need oxygen. The only reason they come up to the surface right now is for communication.”

In order to get the Robofish to communicate underwater, the researchers faced the challenge of having the robots transmit information through dense water.

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