Fish-like Sensors for Underwater Robots 57
Roland Piquepaille writes "Today, both submarine and surface ships use sonar for navigation. But sonar and other vision systems face various limitations. So why not imitating fish? For millions of years, fish have relied on 'a row of specialized sensory organs along the sides of their bodies, called the lateral line' to avoid predators or to find preys. So engineers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have decided to build an artificial lateral line for submarines and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The first tests have been successful, and we can now envision a day where AUVs could detect and track moving underwater targets or avoid collisions with moving or stationary objects."
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So why not imitating fish? (Score:5, Funny)
Truly, this is a question that will plague both scientists and engrish majors for years to come.
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OK, you must be an Engrish major...
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What's [what is] the problem?
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(to which the appropriate response is, "Pasty-skinned enginerds... get out of our bars!" There was an argument to this effect in the DI when I was at UIUC 2-3 years ago...)
Why not? (Score:5, Funny)
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"Get equipped with... Lateral Line."
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karma whore (Score:2, Informative)
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- To find prey and avoid being preyed upon, fish rely on a row of specialized sensory organs along the sides of their bodies, called the lateral line. Now, a research team led by Chang Liu at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has built an artificial lateral line that can provide the same functions in underwater vehicles.
"Our development of an artificial lateral line is aimed at enhancing human abili
There's a very good reason why not (Score:5, Informative)
But sonar and other vision systems face various limitations. So why not imitating fish?
The lateral line is truly an amazing organ. It senses pressure and flow at numerous points on both flanks of fish, and that information helps it swim efficiently and indeed locate prey and avoid predators.
But it's fundamentally a local signal, because it can only detect within a certain range and with limited resolution. A fish can't use the lateral line to make sense of the 3D shape of an object ten meters away, because that information simply isn't transferred through the water that far.
Sonar can indeed do that, and can locate and take velocity measurements on objects *miles* away. So useful, in fact, that dolphins use it as one of their primary sensory systems, apparently getting almost as much detail from sonar as they do from vision.
A lateral line may be a very useful addition to an underwater craft, but it can't replace it as the summary implies. (TFA is smarter, BTW. Go figure.).
Er... new? (Score:5, Interesting)
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PETA's response (Score:3)
Tag suggestion (Score:1)
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Get a new toy, Give up an old toy. (Score:2)
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We used UUV's in Iraq to clear the waterways (there ARE waterways!) of mines. This means less need for trained dolphins and related dolphin headaches and expenses. See http://www.joetalbot.net/index_10.htm [joetalbot.net]
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Timing (Score:1)
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You are so wrong it is painful.
Please consult a map. Israel is an extremely small country which could easily be destroyed with a couple modest-yield nuclear weapons.
While you have that map handy, have a look at the distance from the North Korea/South Korea border to the capitol of North Korea, an extremely densely populated area. A nuclear strike to
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Which is why of course autocratic countries always shy away from actually using weapons of mass destruction against other countries (only used to threaten other countries), they don't really care how many of their citizens you or even they kill, they only really care if they are personally
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Damn it ZONK (Score:1)
Fish are cool. (Score:1)
Step 1 to subarine domination... (Score:1)
This is so obviously a set up. Liu was planted by the Chinese government to assist in the three steps to dominion of the deep...
Step 1: Trick the United States into removing sonar from their subs and replacing it with sensors imitating the lateral lines of fish.
Step 2: Build Chinese submarines with emourmous mouths and "Hyper Active Sonars" that mimmicks the sonar of the dolphins.
Step 3: Use said H.A.S. to stun the US submarines so they are easier to catch and eat, just as Dolphins do to fish.
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This is so obviously a set up. Liu was planted by the Chinese government to assist in the three steps to dominion of the deep...
Step 1: Trick the United States into removing sonar from their subs and replacing it with sensors imitating the lateral lines of fish.
Step 2: Build Chinese submarines with emourmous mouths and "Hyper Active Sonars" that mimmicks the sonar of the dolphins.
Step 3: Use said H.A.S. to stun the US submarines so they are easier to catch and eat, just as Dolphins do to fish.
Step 4: ?????
Step 5: Profit!
Dean
Hey, somebody had to say it.
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No they didn't. They really didn't.
Frickin' Lasers (Score:1)
interesting (Score:2)
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I, for one, welcome... (Score:1)
Sounds like a "beamformer" to me... (Score:1)
Thousands of hits here [google.com]