Bionic asymmetry: from amiiform fish to undulating robotic fins

Abstract

Similar to bionic non-smooth which has been successfully applied in anti-resistance and anti-adhesion, bionic asymmetry is also an inherent property of biological systems and is worth exploring for conceivable pragmatic applications. Therefore, bionic asymmetry for undulations is of main interest in this paper. We initially investigate bionic asymmetry with a case study of the undulating robotic fin, RoboGnilos, which evolved from the long dorsal fin of Gymnarchus niloticus in the amiiform mode. Since the performance of the pre-existing undulating fins is hardly satisfactory, we obtain bionic inspirations of undulatory asymmetry through observations and measurements on the specimen of G. niloticus, to improve upon the performance. Consequently, the newly acquired innovation for bionic asymmetry is incorporated into the previously derived kinematics model, and also applied to the experimental prototype. Both computational and experimental results verify that bionic asymmetric undulation generates better propulsion performance (in terms of linear velocity and efficiency) than the traditional symmetric modes with the same undulatory parameters.