Design, control, and experiments of a fluidic soft robotic eel

Abstract

This work develops a fluidic soft robotic eel which combines the adaptability of soft material and the flexibility of eel-shaped body together. The soft eel-like robot consists of multiple soft actuation segments each of which is capable of bidirectional bending by two embedded symmetrical fluidic chambers. Propulsion will be produced when proper control rules are applied to the bending angles of the actuation segments. Robot design, prototype fabrication and system integration are described step by step. A motion controller based on central pattern generator (CPG) is designed for the soft eel-like robot by using identified parameters. Substantial experiments are implemented to evaluate the performance of the prototype. It is shown that the soft eel-like robot can flexibly perform linear motion and turning motion. Moreover, the soft eel-like robot keeps good continuity even when the parameters of the CPG-based controller changes. In general, the experimental results verify the effectiveness of the design and control methods for the soft eel-like robot, which provides a potential candidate to underwater exploration with limited space.