After four years of development costing $1M, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has announced a robotic fish for use by Japanese fish farms that cater to anglers. The artificial sea bream is about 19 inches long, weighs 5.5 pounds, and can swim (or hover) for 30 minutes before recharging. Only close inspection of its mechanical eye reveals its nature, but it does require a special tank lined with small sensors. Mitsubishi has also made an 88-lb. coelacanth, and is working on extinct sea creatures -- as well as ships and other ocean vessels. [CNN, 25Feb99. Sorin Achim , comp.robotics.misc.]

Various labs are working to develop long range, autonomous, fish-like submarines, for military purposes or to explore propulsion mechanisms that are energy efficient, maneuverable, or capable of high accelerations. See: , , , , , , , , and . [Alex Zivanovic , comp.robotics.misc, 18Mar99.]

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