The Soft-Bodied Bionic Arowana sells for about $5,000. FullDepth View 3 Images –
Known officially as the Intelligent Soft-Bodied Bionic Arowana, the device is made by Chinese company FullDepth – a firm that specializes more in things like underwater ROVs (remotely operated vehicles).
And yes, it is indeed a robotic version of an arowana.
Found mainly in the Amazon, these freshwater fish are prized amongst experienced aquarists, but they’re quite challenging to keep in captivity. Among other things, they require live food, very clean water kept at precise parameters, and a large tank due to the fact that the fish themselves grow to be up to 4 feet long (122 cm).
Introduced in China this March, the Bionic Arowana is 69 cm long by 20 cm tall (2.26 ft by 7.87 in), it weighs 3.8 kg (8.4 lb), and it can swim in a very arowana-like fashion at a top speed of 1.1 mph (1.9 km/h). One charge of its lithium battery is claimed to be good for up to 12 hours of swimtime.
According to FullDepth, the robot “integrates fish neuro-drive models with AI algorithms, equipped with high-precision attitude control, to realistically simulate an arowana’s swimming behavior.” As you can see in the following video, the result is pretty convincing.
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The Bionic Arowana swims around its enclosure autonomously by default, and it can also be steered by wireless remote control – although the latter would only work at quite a shallow depth. Speaking of which, the robot has an operational maximum depth rating of 20 meters (66 ft).
A representative from the company tells us that they haven’t officially sold any Bionic Arowanas outside of China yet, and that the ultimate retail price has yet to be finalized, although it’s planned to be around US$5,000 a unit.
Keep in mind, though, certain types of real arowanas can …[for the balance of this very interesting article please visit: https://newatlas.com/robotics/bionic-arowana-robotic-fish/]
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Source: FullDepth View gallery – 3 images
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