An Italian team on Thursday
presented a new system of submarine drones that act like robotic
fish and that they hope to use to monitor water depths and
protect Venice from high tides.
The system of drones, called "Venus Swarm", has been
developed by Enea, the Italian national institute for new
technologies, and Rome's University of Tor Vergata, and was
presented at the Venice Expo on Thursday.
It is composed of "several cooperative and coordinated
vehicles and is the result of years of laboratory studies of
robotics," said Vincenzo Nanni from Enea.
He said the line of research focused on imitating
aggregation patterns in animals and their group intelligence.
The robotic fish, which can be employed in swarms of dozens
of drones, can be used for example to monitor oil platforms,
pipelines and ports, but also to manage migratory flows, protect
marine biodiversity and assess pollution.
"Each robot is made up of a submarine wireless system that
uses sound and light to communicate. The optical system makes it
possible to transmit a large quantity of information but only in
very clean waters and at short distances. The sound system has a
lower performance but can be used in dirty waters," said Nanni.
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