Robotic fish is accepted by real fish

The latest study involving advancements in robotic technology has an end result that by all accounts is pretty amazing – a robot designed to look like a zebrafish was fully accepted into a school of other zebrafish. That is, male zebrafish swarmed around the robotic female fish in the same way they would a real fish.

"We would like to use these robots for guiding fish away from danger. What we try to understand is how we can design visual features of the robot so that they can elicit attraction for the fish ... We want to make sure first that we do have an attraction and that the fish are conditioned for the attraction" said Maurizio Porfiri, an engineer at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University where the study was conducted.

Because of their very predictable movements and easily replicated design, robotic fish have become a favorite experiment among researchers. There are even some bodies of water that already have robot fish swimming around for purposes like pollution tracking. This latest experiment furthers the proof that robots can perform the same functions as their living counterparts – if this can expand to other creatures that would be incredible.

[via MSNBC]