In the water, pike can accelerate at a rate of eight to twelve g's - as fast as a NASA rocket. To scientists, the speed is inexplicable. In an attempt to understand how the flap of thin fish tail can push a fish faster than a propeller, John Kumph, then an MIT graduate student, built a robotic version of a chain-pickerel - a species of pike - with a spring-wound fiberglass exoskeleton and a skin made of silicone rubber. Now under further development by iRobot, an MIT-linked company just outside Boston, the robo-fish can't yet swim nearly as fast as a real pike, suggesting how much remains to be learned. Kumph hopes that some quality of the skin will be the key to learning the secrets of fish motion. If the speed is due to the undulation of the fish, he says, the force will be much harder to harness in a ship.

Origin of Name
Robotic pike and movie title, respectively
Purpose
To develop new forms of underwater propulsion
Creative Inspiration
Watching fish fly around underwater, Blade Runner
Height
15 cm
Length
81 cm
Weight
3 kg dry
Actuator type, Number, and Kind
Futaba 9303 servos, Tower Hobbies TS-51
Vision
None
Sensors
None
Frame Composition
Fiberglass
Batteries
NiCd
External Power
17 V
Project Status
Ongoing
Information Source
John Muir Kumph