A recent graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University named Jefferson Talbot has turned one of his doodle drawings into an autonomous robotic fish created with 3D printing technology, which he hopes can be used in the pet fish industry, and to help researchers who need a close-up view of underwater ecosystems.

Back in 2016, Talbot started drawing a skeleton of a fish in the margins of his notebook during class. Last summer, after watching his roommate “carefully lug” around his fish and bowl whenever leaving the dorm for a few days so the fish would stay healthy, Talbot came up with the idea of a robotic fish, as he thought that a robotic fish would be a lot easier to take care of.

​Talbot's idea would go on to garner him international attention this year, as he won the Jury Prize in the Project of the Year 2018 contest, and was chosen by a panel of professionals in the Global Academia Department of Dassault Systèmes.

Headquartered in France, Dassault Systèmes, which is known as “The 3DEXPERIENCE Company,” develops 3D design, 3D digital mock-up, and product lifecycle management software. The projects entered in the competition had to be created with Dassault Systèmes software, and the Jury Prize was based on a number of criteria, including innovation, originality and technicality.

“There is a growing interest around the world in bringing robots and AI (artificial intelligence) into the home,” Talbot says.

“Given the love of toy robot dogs in the past decades, I thought there might be interest in a fish. I figured that if I wanted a robot fish, there probably are other tech-obsessed people who would be interested in non-humanoid robots for their homes too.”

Talbot refined his fish during his last year on campus, as he spent time working on his laptop in between his classes in the Embry-Riddle College of Engineering/Lehman Engineering and Technology Center. Additionally, Talbot worked in the advanced Makerspace Lab, and he also used his personal 3D printer.

Thanks to Dr. Heidi Steinhauer’s 3D-CADD and Engineering Documentation course, Talbot was able to focus his ideas related to the robotic fish, and he also sought Dr. Steinhauer’s advice on a computer-aided design technique involving the fish.

Talbot is still working on the newest version of the fish CAD model, as he wants to capture as many life-like features as possible. He is also finalizing the locomotion systems so he can then file for a patent.

Once Talbot’s fish can operate with full autonomy and can swim without human contact for days or weeks, he plans on simplifying the designs into a smaller fish that could fit into an aquarium.