News

UW feature stories

A&A Research Takes Flight

A&A sensing research out of the Nonlinear Dynamics & Control Lab is flying on the 2021 Boeing ecoDemonstrator.
UW Aero & Astro News

Hawkmoth research yields lessons in agile flight

A&A research of the biological sensing mechanisms of the hawkmoth informs the advancement of aerospace systems.
UW Aero & Astro News

Modeling COVID-19 transmission: Apply aerospace

A&A alum Dan Klein draws on his controls training to model the transmission of COVID-19 in King County.
UW Aero & Astro News

Kristi Morgansen appointed department chair

Professor Kristi Morgansen has accepted the position of Chair of the Aeronautics & Astronautics Department. 
UW College of Engineering

Underwater communication: Robofish are the ultimate in ocean robots

In the world of underwater robots, this is a team of pioneers.
UW News

In the media

November 22, 2014 | TEDxRainier
Autonomous fish robots and bio-inspired engineering
Professor Kristi Morgansen explains how engineers are learning from biological systems to solve problems beyond what our current technologies have been able to achieve. Mathematical models, based on studies of fish, are allowing designed engineered systems to prototype robotic fish that can operate in dynamic ocean conditions over months of continuous use.

March 11, 2009 | Popular Mechanics
5 Robots that look, act and are designed like animals
Humans can engineer machines to mimic animal biology with startling accuracy. But these robots have one important trait not found in nature: They work for us. Scientists studying animal behavior and movement have developed robotic birds and bugs capable of anything from surveillance to space exploration. Here are five of our favorite biologically inspired machines.

October 29, 2008 ScienCentral
RoboFish
Underwater robots that swim like fish and work toether without someone remotely controlling them? While it seems like the premise for a movie, it’s actually a project underway right now.

June 18, 2008 | io9
Schools of robot fish sill soon infest the seas
Robots can already mimic people, dogs, cats and insects. They can even walk on water. Now roboticists at the University of Washington have built a school of three robotic fish that swim and communicate wirelessly with one another using sonar signals.

June 11, 2008 | CNET
Robo-fish may monitor future oil spills
Propelled by a servo-actuated two-link tails and flapping pectoral fins, a new breed of robofish programmed to swim in schools may soon be used to track oil spills or wildlife such as whales.

June 10, 2008 | ABC News
Robot fish could one day conquer seas
If it swims like a fish and acts like a fish, then it must be a fish, right? Nope, it’s robofish, the newest contraption in a lengthening list of electro-mechanical devices based on the secrets of the best designer of all: nature.

June 9, 2008 | Engadget
Robofish communicate with each other, engage in synchronized swimming
Traditional fish should definitely start keeping their guard up, as we’ve seen a noticeable influx of robotic alternatives flapping around here recently.

June 9, 2008 | ScienceDaily
School of robofish communicate with each other in underwater robot teams
In the world of underwater robots, this is a team of pioneers. While most ocean robots require periodic communication with scientist or satellite intermediaries to share information, these can work cooperatively communicating only with each other.

June 6, 2008 | Physorg
School of robofish provides basis for underwater robot teams
In the world of underwater robots, this is a team of pioneers. While most ocean robots require periodic communication with scientist or satellite intermediaries to share information, these can work cooperatively communicating only with each other.