Bio-inspired Underwater Robot with Reconfigurable and Detachable Swimming Modules

Abstract

Maneuverability and propulsive efficiency are of much interest in autonomous underwater robots. In this paper, we present a novel underwater robot design with two reconfigurable and detachable swimming modules that would be capable of offering both maneuverability and propulsive efficiency. They are also capable of reconfiguring automatically to take two different orientations favoring reduced drag in the swimming direction. A key feature of this design is that the reconfigurability is achieved without additional actuators - helpful in the development of autonomous swarm robots with good maneuverability and efficiency.