Engineer and ecologist developing “robot fish” to probe
underwater environments Nature inspires technology for an
engineer and an ecologist at Michigan State University. They’re
developing robots that use advanced materials to swim like fish
to probe underwater environments. “Fish are very efficient,”
said Xiaobo Tan, an assistant professor of electrical and
computer engineering. “They can perform very efficient
locomotion and maneuvering in the water.” Robotic fish--perhaps
schools of them operating autonomously for months--could give
researchers far more precise data on aquatic conditions,
deepening our knowledge of critical water supplies and habitats.
Tan and Elena Litchman, an assistant professor of zoology based
at MSU’s Kellogg Biological Station on Gull Lake in Kalamazoo
County, recently won funding from the National Science
Foundation to integrate their research. “The robotic fish will
be providing a consistent level of data that hasn’t been
possible before,” Litchman said. “With these patrolling fis