The electric eel, also called moray eel , is a typical fish from the Amazon basin and the Orinoco River, whose most notable characteristic is that, apart from being a very agile fish that can swim in multiple directions, it is capable of emitting discharges. electrical power from a group of specialized cells, making it both their hunting system and their survival and communication system with other eels.
In addition, it has an effective movement detection system thanks to the small electric field that surrounds its body, which helps it hunt at night and in cloudy waters, since they do not use their vision to move. This curious fish has inspired a group of scientists from Northwestern University (USA) to develop a robotic fish model.
The objective was to build a robot that could move with great agility and speed through areas where there are obstacles at each step with the intention of improving autonomous underwater vehicles that need to access areas of difficult access such as deep waters with zero visibility on different slopes. or environments with coral reefs, for example.
By deciphering the orientation and movement system of the electric or moray eel, the robotic fish resulting from the research will serve to create, in the near future, an autonomous vehicle or drone that can navigate deep and turbid waters without danger to the environment or for the mission , since, currently, these are characterized by being large and clumsy in movement.
