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If the robotic fish try to find the source of the pollution they find: If the robotic fish try to find the source of the pollution they find, as soon as they have determined the source they will immediately contact the port via the ultrasonic communications so that the port can take any appropriate measures to deal with stopping the source of the pollution. Photograph courtesy of SHOAL. 

SHOAL, the pan-European ICT (Information and Communication Technology) project, part funded by the EU, has successfully developed and delivered intelligent robotic fish capable of working together to detect and identify pollution in ports and other aquatic areas.

Luke Speller, Project Leader of SHOAL and Senior Research Scientist at BMT Group commented: “SHOAL has introduced the capability of cutting the detection and analysis of pollutants in sea water time from weeks to just a few seconds. Chemical sensors fitted to the fish permit real-time in-situ analysis, rather than the current method of sample collection and dispatch to a shore based laboratory.   Furthermore, the Artificial Intelligence which has been introduced means that the fish can identify the source of pollution enabling prompt and more effective remedial action.”

The choice of a robotic fish is not an aesthetic one but a design choice.: The design of a robotic fish is a very maneuverable, efficient, low noise solution. The robotic fish have an incredibly small turning circle allowing them to navigate quickly in ports both to find pollution and avoid ships and the port infrastructure. It's also low noise so as to not disturb the environment when outside of busy ports. Photograph courtesy of SHOAL.The last 3 years has seen no less than 5 key areas of major development.  These include Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Design, Chemical Analysis, Underwater Communication and Hydrodynamics. 

Artificial Intelligence has been developed and introduced to enable the fish to manage multiple problems including avoiding obstacles, knowing where to monitor pollution, finding the source of a pollution, maintaining communication distance from the other fish and returning to be recharged. Each individual robotic fish has an array of sensors and external information that will allow it to navigate the environment. 

The fish work together much like a group of people would work together to accomplish a task.: If you were trying to accomplish a task everyone in the group knows something about the situation, through talking they are able to share information and while not everyone knows everything that is going on they are still able to accomplish the task between them. Likewise the fish do not all know the whole picture of the pollution but between them they know much more and through the communication they are able to work together. Photograph and all image text courtesy of SHOAL.The fish can map where it is, where it needs to go, what samples it has taken and where from and what the chemical composition of the samples are, as well as communicating all of this back through shallow water to a base station, the other fish and the user interface.

Significantly, the robotic fish have been developed to blend into the marine environment in such a way that marine life is neither disrupted nor impacted in any negative way by their presence, but carries on naturally.

Luke Speller continued: “SHOAL has seen the coming together of scientists from across Europe to create a system that could not have been achieved without collaboration between different disciplines.  One of the greatest achievements of SHOAL is getting robots running outside the lab and in the harsh, dynamic conditions of the sea.

Autonomously exploring and investigating the harbor, the fish can work together to monitor and track down sources of pollution.”

SHOAL is a consortium of 6 European organizations including: BMT Group - the project leaders and responsible for Artificial Intelligence; the University of Essex responsible for Robotic Development; the Tyndall National Institute responsible for the Chemical Sensors; the University of Strathclyde responsible for Hydrodynamic Research; Thales Safare responsible  for the Communication Network and the Port Authority of Gijon - the testing port.

This news is from SHOAL, 23 May 2012.