What's up with robotic fish appearing on Sundays? Last week it was the named-by-me Mecha Fish. This week? An autonomous "leader fish" that successfully led shoal mates across a small pool:
Adorable! But the purpose of this robo fish leader goes beyond novelty however, with designers at NYU-Poly's Dynamical Systems Laboratory explaining it could be used to guide schools of fish away from man-made disasters. You know, like BP.
For now, the fish is powered by a battery and is limited in how it could be deployed. That said, the NYU researchers are hard at work on a power source that would be charged by small vibrations in the water (waves, currents, etc) and could theoretically last for days before a servicing is needed. [BotJunkie via Geeky Gadgets via DVICE]