Here’s SoFi, the world’s first robotic fish. SoFi, short for soft robotic fish, looks like a fish and swims like a fish, but it actually is the most versatile robot of its kind. Created at MIT’s computer science and AI lab CSAIL, SoFi (pronounced Sophie) is 18.5 inches long, weighs 3.5 pounds, and can stay underwater at depths of up to 60 feet for 40 minutes.
SoFi is built with printed 3D plastics and has a built-in buoyancy tank full of compressed air. A hydraulic actuator pumps water in and out of a pair of chambers to make SoFI go, moving the tail fin back and forth. SoFi can swim semi-autonomously, going in a specific direction; a handler with a controller can steer it left or right, up or down.
Scientists built SoFi to get closer to other real creatures in the ocean without spooking them. MIT plans to build “swarms” of SoFi’s in the future to monitor the health of the ocean, as well as everything living inside it.
For more, and a great video of SoFi in action:
