Scientists from seven European research institutions are preparing to populate the Venetian Lagoon with a swarm of 150 robots.

“We’re actually trying to establish a robotic society," says Thomas Schmickl, head of the artificial intelligence lab of the Karl-Franzens University, in Graz, Austria, which is coordinating the study. “Our robots would not just carry out operations for which they are programmed or trained, but they would also develop social skills, learning how to communicate and interact with other robots, as well as with the surrounding environment.”

An aPad robot is readied for testing. Image credit: Subcultron.An aPad robot is readied for testing. Image credit: Subcultron. Researchers working on the project, called Subcultron (Submarine Cultures Perform Long-Term Robotic Exploration of Unconventional Environmental Niches), have designed three types of robots:

  • aMussels (artificial mussels), whose mission is to lie on the seabed to monitor the natural habitat, including biological agents like algae, bacterial incrustation and fish;
  • aFish (artificial fish), which will swim at intermediate depths and exchange data and information with aMussels; and
  • aPads (artificial lily pads), flat devices that will float on the surface of the water to act as the main points of contact with the human world, in addition to providing energy for the entire system.

Currently, the researchers are working on several technical challenges, including development of the required sensors, bio-inspired algorithms to simulate the structure of underwater hives and energy-harvesting mechanisms.

“It may sound a rather eccentric project," notes Schmickl. "Our rationale is to create a system, shaped into a society of autonomous agents, which are engineered to perform a given set of operations—but also able to learn from the environment in which they live and make decisions based on their experience and understanding."

According to Schmickl, the project aims to demonstrate logic beyond that of individual complex machines—which any number of underwater robots have already exhibited—in the deployment of a collective cognitive system with potential for learning and self-adaptation. This approach could prove effective for work in dynamic marine environments that require adaptive capacities in order to be fully explored, he adds.

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