Sharp-eared robot swims with whales.

Sharp-eared robot swims with whales Yomiuri Tokyo University's marine engineering research center Monday announced that it had successfully tested a self-guiding underwater robot that can distinguish the calls of humpback whales and track the animals. The center conducted the research near the Kerama islands in Okinawa Prefecture on March 16 jointly with KDDI Corp. and the Okinawa Expo Aquaroom in Okinawa Prefecture. The research group, led by Tokyo University Prof. Tamaki Ura, used Aqua Explorer 2000, a three-meter-long self-propelled submersible robot developed by KDDI to inspect underwater cables. The researchers adapted the robot to follow whales by adding an underwater …