World's first 'self-driving car for fish' will liberate your goldfish from its watery prison

Underwater go-cart prototype uses a standard webcam to track the fish's movements and translate this into driving instructions

A design lab from the Netherlands has created what they claim is the first self-driving car for fish

A design lab from the Netherlands has created what they claim is the first self-driving car for fish in an “attempt to liberate fish all over the world”.

Studio Diip's “Fish on Wheels” prototype looks like a miniature fish tank mounted on the bottom half of a remote-controlled car. A webcam looks down on the tank and monitors which direction the fish is swimming in, converting this into instructions to steer the device.

“Up until now driving vehicles has been limited to mankind only (excluding a handful of autonomous vehicles driven by computers),” say Studio Diip on their website, “but now your pet fish can also put the pedal to the metal.”

The team behind the project are mainly interested in designing ‘intelligent imaging products’ and created the device in order to showcase their skills, using just a standard webcam, an Arduino micro-computer and a battery-powered motor.

Although it's not clear exactly how conscious Studio Diip's test subject is of its new-found freedom (goldfish seem like a fairly aimless bunch at the best of times) the days of playing fetch with your fish might be closer than you think, with the team reportedly considering putting the project on Kickstarter.Just remember to keep any piranhas on a leash.