The natural world has long served as an inspiration for human technology; consider how the first airplanes were based on birds. The annoying burrs that the Velcro designer frequently had to pluck off his dog served as inspiration. Furthermore, engineers who are keen to explore the world’s oceans have been drawing their cues from fish, which are the finest at what they do.

Researchers from all over the world are creating aquatic automatons that resemble fish and swim like them. They claim that these automatons are less expensive, simpler to control, and less harmful to marine life than the remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that scientists now employ. Scientists assert that a robotic fish revolution is only a few technical issues away, based on a recent assessment of the technology’s advancements.

For a range of uses, engineers have created prototype robotic fish during the last few decades. Most are made to travel the seas while gathering data, but some are made to perform specialized duties, including gathering plastics from the water, mimicking fish hydrodynamics, or deceiving other fish in a lab. Usually, these robotic explorers have sensors to assess temperature, acidity, and depth as well as video cameras to record any living forms they come across. A few of these devices can even collect and store water samples, such as Charlie, the CIA’s robotic catfish.

Though all these functions and more can now be performed by modern ROVs, the authors of the article contend that robotic fish will be the tools of the future.

Weicheng Cui, coauthor of the paper and marine engineer at Westlake University in China, claims that “robotic fish can do the jobs done by existing [ROVs].” And “robotic fish may [also] be able to do what cannot be done by current ROVs.”

Since the Poodle, the first tethered remotely operated vehicle, was created in 1953, scientists have come to rely more and more on ROVs to enable them to access areas of the ocean that are too deep or hazardous for scuba divers. ROVs are able to descend to levels that are inaccessible to divers, stay down there for essentially an infinite length of time, and return with specimens—both alive and dead—from their explorations.

Although research has benefited greatly from ROVs, the majority of models are bulky and costly. The ROVs that were employed by scientific institutions can cost millions of dollars and weigh almost as much as rhinoceroses, as the Schmidt Ocean Institute, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), and OceanX. In addition to requiring a crane for deployment, these massive, luxury ROVs also need to be tied to a mother ship while submerged.

On the other hand, robotic fish are battery-operated devices that are usually only a few kilograms in weight and can be purchased for several thousand dollars. Robotic fish usually come in neutral hues and resemble their biological counterparts solely in shape, while some have been developed to resemble genuine fish. However, Tsam Lung You, an English engineer at the University of Bristol who was not part in the review, claims that even the compared to the average ROV, most unrealistic robot fish cause less disturbance to aquatic life.

Robotic fish swim like the creatures that inspired them, in contrast to most ROVs that move around with the help of propellers. Robotic fish can move silently through the water by flexing their tails back and forth. This is advantageous for researchers who want to study undersea animals in their natural habitats because the fish don’t seem to bother the nearby marine life.

Scientists may be able to utilize robotic fish to investigate vulnerable species or explore the crevices of lava tubes, underwater caverns, and coral reefs because they are small and secretive. Despite their extreme maneuverability, the present generation of robotic fish has a major drawback: a very small operating range. Without a mother ship to provide them with electricity and limited room to hold batteries, today’s robotic fish can only spend a few hours in the water at a time.

Robotic fish will require a crucial component that is now absent in order to render current ROVs obsolete: a docking station where they can independently recharge their batteries. Cui imagines a world in which communities of tiny robotic fish collaborate to do large tasks and alternately dock at underwater charging stations that are fueled by sustainable energy sources, such as wave power.

Cui states, “Instead of using one [ROV], we can use many robotic fish.” “Deep sea operations will become much more efficient as a result of this.”

The creation of autonomous underwater charging stations is necessary for this possible future, but Cui and his colleagues think current technologies may be used to construct these. He claims that a wireless charging mechanism would probably be at the heart of the possible docking station. Cui claims that this dubious future may come to fruition in under a decade if the demand is great enough.

However, Paul Clarkson, the head of husbandry operations at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, notes that persuading scientists to swap in their ROVs for schools of robotic fish would be difficult.

“Our research and technology partner, MBARI, has designed and operated remotely operated vehicles for us to use for decades,” adds Clarkson. “Their ROVs are a vital component of our work and research, and their capabilities render them an invaluable instrument.”

Notwithstanding, he continues, “we need to examine what advantages new innovations may bring in understanding our changing world, given the challenges of climate change, habitat destruction, overfishing, and plastic pollution.”