8:43pm UK, Thursday October 06, 2005

The world's first autonomously-controlled robotic fish are the latest attraction at the London Aquarium.

The new designs can avoid objects, react to their environment and swim around a specially designed tank entirely of their own accord.

180 world1st autonomously-controlled robotic fish

Life-like robots of the deep

Biologically-inspired to mimic the sinuous movement of real fish, the robots swim at the same speed as tuna, have the acceleration of a pike and the navigation skills of an eel.

Professor Huosheng Hu and his team of scientists at the University of Essex worked with the London Aquarium for three years to develop the brightly-jewelled cyberfish.

Professor Hu hopes that bringing the public into direct contact with robots will increase their understanding of science and technology.

"This work has many real-work applications including seabed exploration, detecting leaks in oil pipelines, mine countermeasures and improving the performance of underwater vehicles," he said.

London Aquarium director Foster Archer said the new additions would live in a tank with real fish and was sure they would prove incredibly popular with visitors.

"Our robotic fish are really wonderful to look at and very entertaining. It's amazing how beautiful and graceful their movement are," he said.