美国麻省理工发明软体机器鱼帮助拯救珊瑚礁 [英国媒体]

MIT's tiny rubber robo-fish is here to help save the world's coral reefs

美国麻省理工发明软体机器鱼帮助拯救珊瑚礁



SoFi, the rubber fish, is controlled using a Super Nintendo controller and has been swimming among real fish in Fiji's Rainbow Reef

SoFi是一条由一台超级任天堂游戏控制器来控制的橡胶鱼，它在斐济的彩虹礁上跟真的鱼一起游泳。

Some fish are almost impossible for scientists to observe: the Greenland shark, which can live for more than 400 years, was caught on camera for the first time this month. Tracking marine animal can be complex but robotics may make getting close to them easier.

对于科学家们来说，有一些鱼是几乎不可能被观察到的：比如，能活400年以上的格陵兰鲨鱼，这个月才第一次被相机捕捉到。追踪海洋动物可能很复杂，但是机器人技术或许会使这些动物更容易被人接近。

注释：格陵兰鲨鱼亦称睡鲨，为体型最大的鲨鱼之一，以其丑陋外表与缓慢动作着称，在北极及北大西洋海域 1200米深的地方可以看见这种鲨鱼的踪迹，往南至阿根廷与南极也都发现过这种鲨鱼。格陵兰鲨鱼居住深度可达水下2000米。

The latest fish-monitoring creation is a fish-shaped rubber and plastic robot from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Called SoFi, the fish is controlled by a Super Nintendo controller and has been used to swim alongside fish in Fiji's Rainbow Reef.

最新的鱼类监测发明是一个来自麻省理工学院，由橡胶和塑料制成的鱼形机器人。它被叫作SoFi,，这条鱼由一台超级任天堂控制器控制着，已经被用在斐济的彩虹珊瑚礁旁边跟鱼群一起游泳了。

"Current robotic prototypes do not provide adequate platforms for studying marine life in their natural habitats," write adacemics from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in a new research paper. Existing underwater robotics contain propulsion systems that "systems generate substantial turbulence" and may scare the animals they are observing, they say.

麻省理工学院计算机科学和人工智能实验室（CSAIL）最新的一篇研究论文写道：“目前机器人原型还不能为在自然栖息地研究海洋生物提供充足的条件。”他们说，现有的水下机器人包含“产生大量湍流”的推进系统，这可能会惊吓到这些机器人正在观察的动物。



So, to get around the problems they created SoFi. "A diver can direct the fish by sending commands such as speed, turning angle, and dynamic vertical diving," they write. The computer scientists explain that their robo fish can swim without being tethered to a motor for a maximum of 40 minutes. During this time it's possible for SoFi to dive to 18 metres. The researcher behind the work say the rubber fish is essentially a "mobile underwater observatory".

所以，为了解决这个问题，研究人员创造出了SoFi。他们在研究论文中写道：“潜水员可以通过发送比如速度、转弯角度和动态垂直潜水等指令来引导机器鱼。”计算机科学家解释说他们的机器鱼不用绑上马达就可以工作，最久可以游40分钟。这一次，SoFi有可能会下潜18米深。这项工作背后的研究人员表示，这条橡胶鱼本质上是一个“移动的水下观测台”。

Within the silicone rubber shell there's a buoyancy sensor, DC motor, a receiver that can talk to the controller, and a displacement pump that allows its tail to move. The motor pumps water into chambers in the robotic fish's tail, which then force it out to move forward. There's also a fish-eye camera that is used for capturing images and video of the robot's surroundings.

在这条鱼的硅胶外壳里有浮力传感器、直流电机、一个可以与控制器对话的接收器，还有一个允许其尾部摆动的位移泵。直流电机把水抽到机器鱼尾部的腔室里，然后把水强力推出，让鱼向前推进。还有一个鱼眼摄像头，用来捕捉机器鱼周围的图像和视频。

A diver close to the artificial fish is able to control its movements using the Nintendo controller. The gamepad is housed in a oil-filled rigid outer shell, which allows it to handle the pressure of deeper water. It issues ultrasonic sounds that are read by a Raspberry Pi and then amplified so they can reach the robot.

潜水员能够接近这条人工鱼并使用任天堂控制器来控制其动作。游戏手柄安装在充满油的坚硬外壳里，这使得手柄能在深水压力下使用。控制器发出超声波信号，由一台Raspberry Pi迷你单板计算机读取信号，再增强信号，这样信号就可以被机器鱼接收了。



During tests in Fiji's coral reefs the man-made fish swam an average of 296.8m in a straight line on each dive and didn't scare away other animals around it. Overall, six tests of the robot were completed in the Somosomo Strait in Taveuni and the diver could be around 10 metres away from where it was swimming. If the signal between the controller and the fish is lost then the creature goes into a dormant state and floats in the water.

在斐济珊瑚礁的测试过程中，这条人工鱼每次下水都直线游了296.8米远，而且没有吓走它周围的其它动物。在塔韦乌尼岛索莫索莫海峡总共完成了六次机器鱼测试，潜水员可以在距离机器鱼10米远的地方向其发送指令。如果控制器和机器鱼之间的信号丢失了，那么机器鱼将进入休眠状态并漂浮在水中。

注释：Taveuni塔韦乌尼岛是斐济的第三大岛，跟瓦努阿岛（Vanua斐济第二大岛）只隔了一个索莫索莫海峡。

"Multiple fish swim parallel to the robot a few centimetres below it and also pass a few centimetres in front of its lens," the researchers write. "The fish did not appear to change their swimming trajectory as SoFi approached them in these cases, suggesting that SoFi has the potential to integrate into the natural underwater environment."

研究人员写道：“很多鱼在机器鱼下方几厘米处游动，也在它的镜头前几厘米处游过。”在几次测试中，当SoFi靠近的时候，这些鱼似乎并没有改变它们的游泳轨迹。这表明SoFi已经具备融入水下自然环境的潜力。”


reddit评论：

oshaneo
They said it can swim with other fish but shows it swimming alone the whole time??

他们说这条鱼可以和其它鱼一起游，但是展示的却一直都是它自己在游？？

Lovemesometoasts 
somebody get that fish some friends!

谁给这条鱼找几个朋友吧！

Tinkerer221 
Sharkbait, Ooh Ha Ha!

鲨鱼饵，哈哈哈！

samgosam 
I was waiting for something to pop out and eat it...

我一直在等某个东西出来把它吃掉。

Bully1987 
It's gonna get eaten, it's like a slow swimming baby fish.

它会被吃掉的，它游起来就像一条刚刚出生的鱼。

youre_a_burrito_bud  
But it probably also gives off a much different electrical signal that a real fish. Maybe nobody wants to eat the demon fish.

但是，也可能它会发出跟真鱼很不一样的电子信号。这样可能就没有谁想要吃这条邪恶的鱼了。

b_doodrow 
Those fish are probably all 'WTF'. We can't even nail the subtleties of humans in robots. I bet the fish that see that thing are so freaked out. Imagine if a fish made a robotic human and claimed it could walk among men. We would be like 'uhh yeah wtf is that'

这些机器鱼可能都是让真鱼懵逼的东西。我们甚至都不能把机器人做得跟人类惟妙惟肖。我打赌鱼看到这个东西肯定都吓坏了。想象一下如果鱼制造了一个人形机器人并且宣称这个机器人可以在人类中行走，那我们的反应会是：我去，这是个什么鬼。

cellada 
Nah fish aren't that smart.

不，鱼没有那么聪明的。

S4ge_ 
but.. what’s the point?

但是，这个机器鱼的意义是啥？

kurburux
Research and gathering data.

研究，还有收集信息啊。

flippantenthusiast11 
They need to get it to eat the trash we’ve dumped in the ocean

他们需要把它设计成能吃掉我们倒在海洋中的垃圾。

djustinblake
This is going to be swallowed by a larger fish. And that fish will likely die as a result.

它会被一条大一点的鱼吞下去的。然后那条鱼可能会死掉。

OceanGrownPharms
I'll tell you one thing, they look cool but taste horrible

我来告诉你一件事：这些机器鱼看起来很酷，但是吃起来很难吃。

ardenthusiast  
Everyone’s talking about the fish, but I was fascinated by the spirally rose looking coral. What is that? It’s beautiful.

每个人都在谈论机器鱼，但是我却被这种螺旋状的玫瑰色珊瑚迷住了。这是什么？太漂亮了。