Two biomimetic robotic fish, resembling small sharks, have appeared in Hangzhou's West Lake, China. They are capable of recovering lost electronic products and items from the lake, as well as monitoring foreign species that have appeared due to public animal releases.
According to reports from Xinhua News Agency, Metropolitan Express, and Tide News, some tourists recently spotted what appeared to be 'sharks' in West Lake, but in fact, these were two biomimetic robotic fish jointly developed by the scenic area's public security and the Institute of Automation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The robotic fish are modeled after carp and are about 60 to 70 centimeters long. Their 'eyes' are underwater cameras, designed to address the pain point of manual retrieval being time-consuming and prone to missing items.
According to the introduction, when police receive requests from tourists about lost items in the lake, the robotic fish are placed into the water, and the operators use a remote control to set the search area. The fish’s internal inertial navigation system can calculate its position in real time.
The visual sensors in the fish's head can identify items such as phones and wallets even in turbid waters; even items trapped in shallow silt can be located, with a positioning error of less than 10 centimeters.
In addition, animal releases into West Lake have been increasing in recent years, with some people even releasing Brazilian turtles, which are difficult to monitor. The robotic fish’s visual sensors can assist in controlling invasive species by capturing images.
According to the plan, the robotic fish will be trialed in the core waters of West Lake before China’s ‘National Day’ Golden Week, and subsequently coverage will expand to all key areas of the lake.
The robotic fish are modeled after carp and are about 60 to 70 centimeters long. Their 'eyes' are underwater cameras, designed to address the pain point of manual retrieval being time-consuming and prone to missing items.
According to the introduction, when police receive requests from tourists about lost items in the lake, the robotic fish are placed into the water, and the operators use a remote control to set the search area. The fish’s internal inertial navigation system can calculate its position in real time.
The visual sensors in the fish's head can identify items such as phones and wallets even in turbid waters; even items trapped in shallow silt can be located, with a positioning error of less than 10 centimeters.
In addition, animal releases into West Lake have been increasing in recent years, with some people even releasing Brazilian turtles, which are difficult to monitor. The robotic fish’s visual sensors can assist in controlling invasive species by capturing images.
According to the plan, the robotic fish will be trialed in the core waters of West Lake before China’s ‘National Day’ Golden Week, and subsequently coverage will expand to all key areas of the lake.