asking all experienced reefers for Ideas

[Allmost]

Hello all,
so me along with my masters team in electrical engineering are looking for a new and more complicated project. and that is when a robot fish came to my mind ! guys down at MIT are already making these although with no purpose other than swimming freely.

now how could a robot fish benefit our reef tanks ?

removing algae is one of the only things I could think of for now, fro example, naso tangs eat Dictyota, and I know of many reef tanks, who are way to small to house a naso tang yet struggle to get dictyota in control ! this could be one,

can anyone think of any other Ideas / purposes of a fish in our tanks ?

 

[HV1990]

maybe allowing it to be a mobile ph meter

 

[Allmost]

maybe allowing it to be a mobile ph meter

Yes, Wireless transmission on PH and temp are a must, as a start we are researching on what other probes could be placed on it to wireless transmit back to a receiver. thanks, great Idea
on top of that, there are the flow meters to fnd dead spots in tank, as well as Lux meter to check light intensity, in order t be able to give the robot fish behavior down the road.

 

[mesocosm]

Greetings All !

... there are the flow meters to fnd dead spots in tank, as well as Lux meter to check light intensity ...

If you can make a robot that would sell for > $600 that can do these two things with accuracy and precision, I'll buy 3 ... seriously.


:thumbsup:

 

[Allmost]

Greetings All !


If you can make a robot that would sell for > $600 that can do these two things with accuracy and precision, I'll buy 3 ... seriously.


:thumbsup:

haha that's the Idea, although we are just getting started, ALOT of research needs to be done
specifically with material that are safe to be used.

 

[GKill]

a robotic fish that could sacrifice itself to plug an oil leak!

 

[CebakaLaika]

I saw a post in which an anguished and angry aquarist related the anniliation of three of his pet fish by the family cat. It seems the fish were friendly and curious and all the cat had to do was jump on top of the tank and dangle a paw in the water.

Can't you design the robot fish to help with this type of problem? Perhaps growl at the cat, or nibble it's toes?

Remember, if you want to do something with less precision, more trouble, and increase the complexity, use a robot!

Also remember, that the software is ALWAYS the hardest part of any project. How are you going to do the software, what language?

 

[Allmost]

I saw a post in which an anguished and angry aquarist related the anniliation of three of his pet fish by the family cat. It seems the fish were friendly and curious and all the cat had to do was jump on top of the tank and dangle a paw in the water.

Can't you design the robot fish to help with this type of problem? Perhaps growl at the cat, or nibble it's toes?

Remember, if you want to do something with less precision, more trouble, and increase the complexity, use a robot!

Also remember, that the software is ALWAYS the hardest part of any project. How are you going to do the software, what language?

thanks for your comment, although I think some years ago aquarium glass top was invented to help with playfully cat syndrome

as of the design goes, I have a very strong team here, and we have done multiple projects for different companies around the globe, in biomedical, robotics, and VLSI, and our latest project ( a high speed camera used in biomedical applications) is being produced in TSMC in Taiwan.

in fact, the software and communication with main processor is the easy part as we have modules ready from older projects, hard part is to make a fish that can swim freely a fish that can navigate through a tank and knows where it is at all times. and most importantly, a material that is elastic enough to make fish movements, and is reef safe at the same time. it is not an easy task but I'm confident me and my team and pull it through

 

[CebakaLaika]

Look, I've been involved with several projects involving software and I know that the software is the hard part. I'll need a more very solid proposal for the software before I, as a representative of a three letter government organization, can fund your project.

 

[Allmost]

Look, I've been involved with several projects involving software and I know that the software is the hard part. I'll need a more very solid proposal for the software before I, as a representative of a three letter government organization, can fund your project.

I completely understand what you mean. and agree.

right now, I am brainstorming Ideas for add ones and applications. at the same time researching about physical part of the fish itself. after that is set, the microcontroller and programming it will be involved, which is in fact the hard part I agree, but that's the part I'm good at myself

of course to apply for any funds, the design needs to be set and written down on paper including the code for the software and micro controllers used.

thanks I will be sure to keep this updated on the progress.

and please dont hesitate to let me know if you think of anything

 

[KarlBob]

Flow Mapping - Have the robo-fish swim to various locations in the tank, precisely defined by distance from the walls and the water's surface, and record the direction and speed of the current at each point (the inverse of the force and direction needed to remain motionless at that spot). Use the data to generate a 3D flow map for the aquarist. Now the owner can locate dead spots, low flow zones for softies and fluffy LPS, high flow locations for SPS, etc.

 

[Newreeflady]

Could also be programmed to go through and sift the sand every day. It'd be great to have a sand sifting animal that didn't eat the life in the bed. This could be good for tanks with ssb.

Also, once it finds low flow zones, it could do some flow generation, like my clownfish that loves to kick up detritus and sand with her tail. If it could do this daily, it would keep detritus from collecting in low flow areas and rotting.

Could be made to also respond to remote control. Hook up a feeding tube, and remote control it around the tank to right above corals that need target feeding.

I like the ideas for flow indicating and doing a flow map!

Now, making one that doesn't scare the crap out of the fish- dunno how that will be accomplished.

 

[CebakaLaika]

I like the target feeding thing. How are you going to get the information outside the tank? What are your communications protocols?

 

[corbett_n]

skip the robot and come up with a better reef lighting system.

 

[Allmost]

Could also be programmed to go through and sift the sand every day. It'd be great to have a sand sifting animal that didn't eat the life in the bed. This could be good for tanks with ssb.

Also, once it finds low flow zones, it could do some flow generation, like my clownfish that loves to kick up detritus and sand with her tail. If it could do this daily, it would keep detritus from collecting in low flow areas and rotting.

Could be made to also respond to remote control. Hook up a feeding tube, and remote control it around the tank to right above corals that need target feeding.

I like the ideas for flow indicating and doing a flow map!

Now, making one that doesn't scare the crap out of the fish- dunno how that will be accomplished.

EXACTLY the past part of your post is what we are focusing at right now, material safe to be used in reef tanks, and something that MUST look natural to not scare fish. guys at MIT made free swimming fish, 4 feet long though ! yea wont be applicable in out tanks lol

its efficiency on energy, ways to recharge itself without leaking current into water are another important aspects.

 

[KarlBob]

Sometimes looking like a fish isn't such a good thing. If it looks like a predator to some fish, it will stress them out. If it looks like prey to other fish, it might get attacked. If it looks too much like a particular kind of fish, its "conspecifics" might attack it, too.

Come to think of it, maybe you'd better just plan for this thing to get bitten, because there are some ornery fish out there that will attack everything that moves, up to and including an aquarist's hand.

In terms of movement, are you planning to replicate the "swimming robot" design that flexed the body to generate thrust? It seems to me that you could go more toward the ROV design philosophy, with something like very small Koralias providing thrust and orientation.

As far as recharging without leaking current, I think the easiest solution would be to remove it from the tank, break the seal and charge (or exchange) the battery above water, then reseal it and put it back in the tank. As long as it doesn't need a fresh battery every hour, that shouldn't be an unbearable pain for the user.

 

[KarlBob]

After a quick Google search, the smallest existing ROVs I can find are the Sojourner1, which can fit through at 7.5" diameter opening, and a Japanese design intended to swim around inside the human body to perform medical procedures.

Leaving aside the surgeon-bot, it sounds like your proposal will break new ground in small ROVs.

 

[khaosinc]

in addition to the temp/flow/ and maybe PH meter, a wireless "fish cam" could be fun, especially if it could have RC abilitys and one could poke around all the nooks and crannys in a tank

 

[evokevin]

make it look like a submarine. then when a fish attacks it, you can shoot mini torpedos at it.

 

[KarlBob]

make it look like a submarine. then when a fish attacks it, you can shoot mini torpedos at it.

Yeeeess, I can see it now:
"Sir, lawnmower blenny approaching off the starboard bow."
"Fire torpedoes!"
"Direct hit, sir. The blenny is in retreat."
"Ahead 1/4 steam, we've still got alkalinity samples to take down here."
"Aye, sir."