Fish and bees have learned to communicate with the help of robot translators

It's hard to believe, but two completely differentspecies of living things, fish and bees, learned to communicate with each other. Of course, this is said too loudly, but they can really exchange information about their actions with each other. This became possible thanks to the translator robots that are embedded in each of the two groups - they analyze the actions of the surrounding creatures, share this information with each other, and make the flock repeat their actions.

The project was launched by a robotic group.EPFL, which creates robots that can be embedded in flocks of animals and influence their behavior. In 2017, she presented a robotic fish, which is so realistic that “relatives” consider it their leader and trust it follow it. Two years later, the team collected a robotic system that is able to manipulate a swarm of bees.

In the case of fish, manipulation is carried out atassisted tail movements and vibrations. Bees can also be controlled through fluctuations in air and temperature, and the new system does an excellent job with this. Each robot is capable of capturing the movements of the flock and reporting this to an ally from the other group, being at a distance of more than 700 kilometers.

We have created an unprecedented bridge between the twoanimal species, which allowed them to exchange information about their actions. They even began to adopt some characteristics of each other. Bees became a little more restless and less prone to kuchkovaniyu, and fish, on the contrary, began to gather together more often.

Frank Bonnet, one of the authors of the study

To prove the possibility of communication of two kinds,scientists conducted an experiment. The bees were released to the site with two robotic terminals, and the fish swam in a ring-shaped pool. It was expected that when a robotized fish would lead its group to swim counterclockwise, the bees would gather in a bunch at one of the terminals. At first, everything was happening chaotically, but after 25 minutes, the researchers got their way - all the fish began to swim in the same direction, and the bees gathered in one place.

It is believed that such robot-translatorsallow people to control flocks of animals. For example, you can force birds to fly away from airports, and bees to pollinate plants only in certain areas. Technology has a really big future, and it already shows excellent results.

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