Realistic Swimming Robot Inspired by Zebrafish

Innovation: Academia

NYU

2019

Image: Petr Kuznetsov / Pixabay / CC BY - Creative Commons Attribution alone

Move in/on Liquids

Water is not only the most abundant liquid on earth, but it’s vital to life–so it’s no surprise that the majority of life has evolved to thrive on and under its surface. Moving efficiently in and on this dense and dynamic substance presents unique challenges and opportunities for living systems. As a result, they have evolved countless solutions to optimize drag, utilize surface tension, fine tune buoyancy, and take advantage of various types of currents and fluid dynamics. For example, sharks can slide through water by reducing drag due to their streamlined shape and specially shaped features on their skin.

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Adapt Behaviors

The environment is constantly changing, and if living systems can’t adapt to these changes, they don’t survive. Environmental changes can be cyclic such as seasons, sudden such as floods or forest fires, or gradual but long-term, such as ecosystems shifting from early to mature stages. These changes require some flexibility in behavioral responses to match the specific conditions. For example, as a fish called the lamprey swims, it constantly faces changes in currents. Skin sensors help it detect those changes and adjust its motion accordingly.

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Swimming robot from NYU interacts with its surroundings to actively avoid obstacles and learn on its own.

Benefits

Dynamic
Responsive

Applications

Remote operated vehicles
Search and rescue
Artificial intelligence

UN Sustainable Development Goals Addressed

Goal 9: Industry Innovation & Infrastructure

The Challenge

Common robots operate on open-loop control systems that enable them to perform a predetermined set of activities. The robot operates on its own, but it does not respond to environmental stimuli, which increase malfunctions and decrease synergy with its surroundings.

Innovation Details

The swimming robot is 3D-printed in the same shape as an actual zebrafish. It is programmed with a closed-loop control system based on experimental data collected from live zebrafish. This system allows the robot to act on its own and interact with real zebrafish in such a realistic manner that the fish don’t realize there’s a robot in their midst.

Biomimicry Story

As fish swim in schools, they give off many signals to each other to coordinate their movement. For example, some fish vibrate their fins in subtle ways to warn of danger. Other fish use reflecting light off their scales to signal a change in direction.

See Related Strategy

a blue betta fish with red fins swims in a tank

Biological Strategy

Fins Used to Communicate

Siamese fighting fish

Fins of some fish send a warning signal to fellow fish or synchronize movements by vibrating.

References

Journal article

Model-Based Feedback Control of Live Zebrafish Behavior via Interaction With a Robotic Replica

IEEE Xplore

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