Robotic fish to detect shipping pollution

A new breed of sniffer fish: carp-like machines are to be released into the waters of the Spanish port of Gijon to help detect pollutants from shipping and leaks from local pipelines.

Shoals of robotic fish, armed with sensors, navigation and communications technology, could soon be helping to rid harbours of chemical pollution. A total of €2.8 million of  EU funding has been awarded to a research consortium of scientists and engineers from UK universities to produce five prototype ‘fish’ for a trial in the Spanish port of Gijon.

Released into the water from March 2012, the autonomous robots will be fitted with chemical analysis tools, allowing them collectively to build up a detailed map of shipping pollutants and leaks from local pipelines, and relay this information to the shore. Sonar sensors implanted on the seabed and coastal walls will transmit signals to and from the fish – while a GPS system in their fins will orientate the shoal’s position.

“Working together, they should be able to pinpoint precisely the sources of leaks, detecting the degraded components of fuels used in shipping, such as phenols and naphthol,” explains Dr Damien Arrigan, who is leading the sensors development research at the Tyndall National Institute, Cork.

The robots are designed to mimic both the appearance and the rippling movement of a carp. Constructed of aluminium, resins and rubber, they each contain eight computer-controlled DC motors, allowing them to travel at about 1 metre a second.

Static sensor technology is already used in European harbours and waterways to monitor factors such as pH levels and the amounts of dissolved oxygen, but has never before combined the latest chemical analysis tools with underwater robotics.

If the project is successful, the team hope to apply the same principles to detect biological pathogens, such as toxic bacteria in rivers. – Alex Johnson

20 August 2009

Alex Johnson