Robot Fish?

A robotic fish called WANDA with a camera that can seek out and ‘swim’ towards a particular object of interest is being revealed for the first time.

The Wireless Aquatic Navigator for Detection and Analysis is propelled by an active flexible joint tail fin that is activated through conducting polymer artificial muscles.

The biggest advantage of this material, according to researcher Dr Scott McGovern, is the ease with which it mimics the tail fin motion of a fish. WANDA is more mobile and flexible previous sensing systems; fish-like swimming motions mean better manoeuvrability than conventional propeller driven devices, making such devices ideal for underwater inspections within confined spaces.

“Other advantages of conducting polymers are that they are low voltage, light weight and self-contained. Also as there are no complex moving parts, they have the capacity to be more robust than the traditional materials used,” he said.