The army of robots swims along the river in California

Many robots equipped with sensors and GPS navigation devices are waving in the rivers of California (USA) to collect information from the flow, salinity of the water and pollution here.

At the University of California, a group of 100 robots is dropped into the Sacramento River near Walnut Grove, California, according to Ubergizmo.com.

One of the robots is dropped on the Sacramento River

Researchers hope this project, known as the Floating Sensor System , could change the way water quality and flow is monitored in the Sacramento-San Joaquin river system. It is also a river system that supplies about two thirds of fresh water to the state of California.

The initiative is a project of Associate Professor Alexandre Bayen of the University of California's Center for Information Technology for the Beneficial.

Each robot has sensors to test the salinity of the water, and the smartphone GPS device.

Some robots have propellers to freely move through obstacles and reach specific targets. They even have phones running the Android operating system and texting the management center.

In addition, in the event of an incident, such as a dike failure, the robot can be quickly dispatched to the site and gather the information necessary for the rescue work.