Design and experimental research of an underwater vibration suction module inspired by octopus suckers

Abstract

The design, analysis and fabrication of an underwater vibration suction module is presented. Inspired by the suction principle of the octopus suckers, the module proposed in this paper uses vibration of the suction cups to mimic the muscle contraction and expansion of the octopus suckers, which can produce negative pressure between the suction cup and the adsorption surface. The pressure change inside of the suction cup in the process of vibrating was analyzed and a mathematical model for a single suction cup was established. An experiment platform was designed with enough experimental work to verify the theoretical analysis. A prototype of underwater vibration suction was manufactured and tested, which shows a relative good suction capacity in different environments. Underwater vibration suction is a kind of new suction technology, which can be used on some underwater devices, such as underwater wall-climbing robots.