According to an article on ScienceSpaceRobots. com, the Waltham, Massachusetts-based Advanced Systems Group (ASG) of Boston Engineering Corporation has taken inspiration from the speedy tuna, which swims indefatigably in the Earth's oceans, to develop a robotic tuna – to be officially dubbed BIOSwimmer – for underwater navigation.

The ASG’s BIOSwimmer project, which will be funded by the US Department of Homeland Security, is essentially aimed at giving the robotic tuna the requisite capabilities for patrolling under water in harsh environments.

With the BIOSwimmer robot to feature dedicatedly replicated fins and a flexible tail of real-life tuna, Homeland Security has decided to commission the project chiefly due to its potential for carrying out several important missions --- like searching the inundated areas of ships, examining oil tankers, and guarding US harbors by detecting suspicious goings-on.

Noting that the BIOSwimmer robot will be able to “inspect the interior voids of ships such as flooded bilges and tanks, and other hard to reach external areas,” the ScienceSpaceRobots. com article said: “The DHS tuna bot will also inspect and protect harbors and piers and carry out important security missions.”

About the BIOSwimmer project, David Taylor – from DHS S&T's Borders and Maritime Security Division; and the BIOSwimmer program manager – said that the robotic-tuna development underscores what is called “biomimetics;” that is, making use of nature as a basis for design, for engineering and exceedingly well-functioning system.