Big brother may be watching your actions in the next few years, that is if you are using the waterways of Venice to transport goods via ships. It was reported in Business Week that a project called “Subcultron” that is lead by Thomas Schmickl, a zoology professor, is developing a new type of underwater robot.
The Subcultron robots will be put into the polluted waterways of Venice to monitor the water quality. There will be three different types of robot used in the system. The first is the “aPad”. the aPad is internet capable and allows the other robots to send data back to the government agency that is tasked with monitoring the pollution. The second type of robot is the “aFish”, the aFish as you might guess is shaped like a fish. The third type of robot is the “aMussel”, the aMussel is a pod shaped robot.
The Subcultron robots can make decisions on what they should monitor such as damaged ships and water mains. The robots constantly monitor water composition as well as the temperature of the water. The robots are powered by lithium ion batteries which are charged with solar panels built into the robot.
This is a very interesting development in robot technology. The use of robots in more and more industries and government programs shows that Information Technology professionals should begin to study the different types of robots and the tasks that they can accomplish. As robots become more common in the industrial and governmental sectors there will be more career opportunities for those that have a knowledge of how to implement programs using this steadily emerging technology.
Sources:
Bloomberg BusinessWeek, February 1, 2016