Blind learns how people make automated submarines

The ability to guide blind fishes helps US and Singaporean scientists create sensors that can help locate submarines more accurately in turbid water.

Have you ever wondered why many fish do not have eyes or their eyes are nearly useless, but they can still be driven in a chilly water environment? The scientists explain that most blindfish are driven by a row of hairy whip cells on either side of the body. These hair cells are capable of detecting changes in water pressure as they move or when water flows around an object.

A blind fish moves in a cave under water. (Photo: Gizmag)

Now scientists from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States simulate the mechanism of action of hair cells on fish to produce self-guided devices. in the water, Gizmag reported.

Often underwater devices use cameras, ultrasound generators, navigation sound systems for navigation. But the camera almost does not work in opaque water. Ultrasonic positioning devices can operate effectively in opaque water, but their prices are relatively high and they depend on the battery. In addition, the sounds that ultrasound locating devices emit may harm aquatic animals.

Researchers have created sensors that can sense water pressure, like the whip hairs of blind fish. The size of each sensor is 1.8mm x 1.8mm. They need very little electricity and have extremely low production costs ($ 20 per sensor). In tests, the researchers combined sensors with computers and cameras to create three-dimensional images of underwater objects and their surroundings.

Experts say their sensors could be used in military submarines. When planes and ships want to detect submarines, they only need to detect the "ping" that the submarine's submarine locates. If the ultrasound device is replaced by a sensor, the ping will disappear and the sub is actually a stealth object.