Development of a two‐joint robotic fish for real‐world exploration

Abstract

AbstractResearch on biomimetic robotic fish has been undertaken for more than a decade. Various robotic fish prototypes have been developed around the world. Although considerable research efforts have been devoted to understanding the underlying mechanism of fish swimming and construction of fish‐like swimming machines, robotic fish have largely remained laboratory curiosities. This paper presents a robotic fish that is designed for application in real‐world scenarios. The robotic fish adopts a rigid torpedo‐shaped body for the housing of power, electronics, and payload. A compact parallel four‐bar mechanism is designed for propulsion and maneuvering. Based on the kinematic analysis of the tail mechanism, the motion control algorithm of joints is presented. The swimming performance of the robotic fish is investigated experimentally. The swimming speed of the robotic fish can reach 1.36 m/s. The turning radius is 1.75 m. Powered by the onboard battery, the robotic fish can operate for up to 20 h. Moreover, the advantages of the biomimetic propulsion approach are shown by comparing the power efficiency and turning performance of the robotic fish with that of a screw‐propelled underwater vehicle. The application of the robotic fish in a real‐world probe experiment is also presented. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.