THUNDER BAY — A professor from Lakehead University is taking a very close look at the way fish use navigation and propulsion to thrive and survive in their complex underwater environments.
Muhammad Khalid and a colleague in the US hope a year-long research project will provide information that can help them create underwater robots.
Khalid, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering, received a $25,000 grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for a research partnership with a faculty member at Villanova University.
They are jointly investigating fluid-structure-chemical interactions in marine environments to learn more about the "mysterious but very effective techniques adopted by fish in natural aquatic conditions," Khalid said in a statement.
"These fish will provide us with lessons to design and develop efficient, agile, stealthy and highly manoeuverable underwater robots."
Specifically, the team will study how various fish species sense the presence of predators, prey, food and mating partners through fluctuations in velocity and pressure in the surrounding water.
"We want to learn how odour signatures and chemical cues help fish navigate," Khalid explained.
According to a news release announcing the project, fish use these elements as important natural sensing and detection methods, but they are still relatively misunderstood by scientists.
Khalid and his partner plan to design fish-like underwater robotic platforms, develop mathematical models and perform computational simulations to investigate odour-guided propulsion of fish-like bodies.
He said their work should reveal "important leads for developing bio-inspired techniques and equipment for sensing, detection, navigation and propulsion of highly interdisciplinary" aquatic robots.
If the project succeeds, Khalid expects it will bring Canadian scientists and marine engineers to the forefront of environment-friendly underwater engineering technologies for a variety of purposes.
These could include helping to secure borders, subsea exploration for natural resources, rescue and search operations, and other opportunities.
