Robotic Sharks to Hit Waters

Automatonophobia is the technical term for fear of robots. Fear of sharks is selachophobia. Psychiatrists will have to come up with a new term now that the United States Navy has deployed there latest creation in stealth military equipment. Yes, they have created robotic sharks.

The Navy's Ghost Swimmer is an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). This five foot long, one hundred pound robotic shark has completed testing and will now join the fleet, according to naval researchers.

The Ghost Swimmer is based on biomimetic design principles, in which engineers leverage millions of years of biological evolution to create machines and systems that emulate animals or natural processes.

"It swims just like a fish does by oscillating its tail fin back and forth," said Michael Rufo, director of Boston Engineering’s Advanced Systems Group, on the Ghost Swimmer project page. "The unit is a combination of unmanned systems engineering and unique propulsion and control capabilities."

The Navy plans to use the Ghost Swimmer for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions as well as hull inspections of friendly ships. The robot can operate autonomously for extended periods of time on battery power, or it can be controlled with a 500-foot tether.

The Navy isn't disclosing exactly how the Ghost Swimmer transmits and receives data, but the press materials state that the robot has to periodically surface to download information it collects.

This truly is a magnificent piece of machinery that will assist in combat as well as grimy tasks that would usually have to be carried out by humans in a fairly risky environment.

And there's also some good news for the marine mammal community. Designers are also hoping that the Ghost Swimmer could be used to sniff out underwater mines, replacing the bottlenose dolphins and sea lions the Navy currently trains for the task.