--- title: Simulated zebrafish and a vision-equipped robotic fish... description: Researchers from EPFL, Duke University, and Instituto Superior Técnico built a physics-based larval zebrafish simulation (simZFish) and a biomimetic robot... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/simulated-zebrafish-and-a-vision-equipped-robotic-fish-reveal-how-the-body-shapes-brain-circuits-3kba43x3z twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Simulated zebrafish and a vision-equipped robotic fish reveal how the body shapes brain circuits | daily.dev og:description: Researchers from EPFL, Duke University, and Instituto Superior Técnico built a physics-based larval zebrafish simulation (simZFish) and a biomimetic robot... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/simulated-zebrafish-and-a-vision-equipped-robotic-fish-reveal-how-the-body-shapes-brain-circuits-3kba43x3z og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/3KBa43X3Z.png og:image:alt: Simulated zebrafish and a vision-equipped robotic fish reveal how the body shapes brain circuits og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Simulated zebrafish and a vision-equipped robotic fish reveal how the body shapes brain circuits **[Robohub](https://daily.dev/sources/robohub)** · 10 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Researchers from EPFL, Duke University, and Instituto Superior Técnico built a physics-based larval zebrafish simulation (simZFish) and a biomimetic robot (ZBot) to study how the fish brain's optomotor response (OMR) circuit enables upstream navigation using vision alone. The simulation replicates the fish body, eyes, and experimentally derived neural circuits, allowing researchers to modify any component and observe behavioral consequences. Key findings include: the fish's body and eye placement are integral to neural computation, not just passive hardware; restricting visual input to the lower posterior visual field is essential for correct OMR behavior; and the simulation predicted missing neuron subtypes later confirmed via two-photon calcium imaging. ZBot, an 80cm robotic fish running the same neural network on a Raspberry Pi, successfully navigated a real turbulent river using vision alone — the first proof that rheotaxis can be achieved without the lateral line sensory system. Both the simulator and robot designs are open-source. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [High-speed microscopy reveals electrical activity across the brain](https://daily.dev/posts/high-speed-microscopy-reveals-electrical-activity-across-the-brain-btpe8q76e) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Underwater Robot Mimics Fish With New Fin Design](https://daily.dev/posts/underwater-robot-mimics-fish-with-new-fin-design-hxf7bkwgc) · IEEE Spectrum · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Engineering Micro-Submarines To Replace Fish](https://daily.dev/posts/engineering-micro-submarines-to-replace-fish-omklpebuy) · Hackaday · 1 upvotes · 1 comments - [Intermittent swimming promotes the energy efficiency of fish-like robot movements](https://daily.dev/posts/intermittent-swimming-promotes-the-energy-efficiency-of-fish-like-robot-movements-gsxan6unj) · Robohub · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Powered by muscle cells, a paper-thin robot swims through watery maze](https://daily.dev/posts/powered-by-muscle-cells-a-paper-thin-robot-swims-through-watery-maze-hpo9t4vzw) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#computer-vision](https://daily.dev/tags/computer-vision), [#robotics](https://daily.dev/tags/robotics), [#neural-networks](https://daily.dev/tags/neural-networks) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/simulated-zebrafish-and-a-vision-equipped-robotic-fish-reveal-how-the-body-shapes-brain-circuits-3kba43x3z) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Simulated zebrafish and a vision-equipped robotic fish reveal how the body shapes brain circuits","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/simulated-zebrafish-and-a-vision-equipped-robotic-fish-reveal-how-the-body-shapes-brain-circuits-3kba43x3z","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/simulated-zebrafish-and-a-vision-equipped-robotic-fish-reveal-how-the-body-shapes-brain-circuits-3kba43x3z"},"datePublished":"2026-08-03T11:24:52.298Z","dateModified":"2026-08-03T11:25:19.578Z","description":"Researchers from EPFL, Duke University, and Instituto Superior Técnico built a physics-based larval zebrafish simulation (simZFish) and a biomimetic robot...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/698db90a31dfcd875da041cf6d52ce3f?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/698db90a31dfcd875da041cf6d52ce3f?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Robohub","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Robohub","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/79911e4f3a514623a70a98793133f536","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/robohub"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/simulated-zebrafish-and-a-vision-equipped-robotic-fish-reveal-how-the-body-shapes-brain-circuits-3kba43x3z","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"computer-vision,robotics,neural-networks","timeRequired":"PT10M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Robohub","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/robohub"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Simulated zebrafish and a vision-equipped robotic fish reveal how the body shapes brain circuits"}]} ```