Dutch engineer builds goldfish-driven car, sets Guinness record

A goldfish swimming inside a water tank has earned a Guinness World Records title after steering a motorised vehicle for 12.28 metres in just one minute. The unusual invention was created by Dutch computer engineer Thomas de Wolf, whose pet goldfish, Blub, became the unlikely driver of a motion-sensing car that translates the fish’s movements into directions for its wheels.

According to Guinness World Records (GWR), Blub and de Wolf achieved the record for the greatest distance covered in a motion-sensing vehicle by a goldfish in one minute. The attempt took place on the set of Italian television programme Lo Show dei Record in Milan on January 23, 2025, with the achievement reported publicly by Guinness in March 2026. Blub covered 12.28 metres (40 feet and 3.46 inches), comfortably exceeding the minimum distance of five metres required for the record.The vehicle was presented during the programme hosted by Gerry Scotti, with Guinness adjudicator Sofia Greenacre overseeing the attempt. After the record was confirmed, de Wolf received an official certificate and medal alongside his aquatic companion.

How does a goldfish drive a car?

The invention works through a motion-sensing camera mounted on the vehicle. Blub swims inside a transparent water tank fitted to a small, motorised, four-wheeled platform.

When the fish moves towards one side of the tank, the camera detects its position and the system directs the vehicle to move in the corresponding direction. The setup effectively converts the fish’s movement inside the water into steering instructions for the car.

It does not require Blub to operate a steering wheel, pedals or any conventional driving controls.The vehicle was designed to work with bright red fish because the camera can detect their movements more easily.

Blub, an Italian goldfish owned by de Wolf, was therefore suited to the experiment. During the one-minute attempt, the car travelled in several directions. Reversing was permitted under the record rules, meaning all valid movement counted towards the total distance.Measuring the attempt required particular care because the vehicle did not simply travel in a straight line. Greenacre calculated the distance by counting how many times coloured marks on the wheels touched the ground as the car moved around.

The procedure allowed the adjudicator to determine the total distance covered during the allotted 60 seconds.

From a routine engineering job to a record-breaking experiment

De Wolf said the project began as a way to bring some fun into his everyday work as a computer engineer. “Normally, my job is quite monotonous, so I wanted to create something that would entertain people, turning my ‘serious’ job into something fun,” he said in a Guinness World Records news release.He also explained that the experiment was intended to demonstrate what could be achieved with technology, even when the application was not designed to solve an immediate practical problem.After the attempt, de Wolf joked about the challenge of explaining the achievement to his pet. “How am I going to explain to Blub now that he has a world record title?” he said after receiving the certificate.While the experiment was designed primarily as an entertaining engineering project, it also raised the possibility of adapting similar motion-sensing technology for more practical uses. During the television programme, host Scotti suggested that the technology might one day help people with physical impairments.

De Wolf expressed interest in exploring that possibility.“I would love to maybe one day be able to help people with mobility issues,” he said, according to Guinness World Records. For now, Blub’s achievement remains an unusual combination of pet ownership, engineering and record-breaking ambition. The goldfish may not understand the significance of the title, but its movements carried the vehicle more than twice the minimum required distance and secured an official place in the Guinness World Records.