Terranaut – Getting Your Fish To Take A Walk
Seth Weiner’s Terranaut rig doesn’t allow its Blood Parrot fish occupant to run around like a madman on robotic legs – in fact, the “pilot” is lucky to hit 1MPH in this wheeled contraption – but imagine the freedom it must feel being able to navigate its once-stationary bowl throughout some of the world’s finest art galleries.
It’s a pretty old contraption, but what the heck – still pretty cool. Here’s how it works: a camera mounted above the tank captures a stream of images. This information is worked over by the onboard computer. Finally, the direction of motion is determined and the wheels move in the direction that the fish is swimming – although from the quick cuts on the video below, it would seem that there’s less forward momentum and more spinning around in circles. [Via]
Check out the video below:
