Robotic Fish Development for the Next Generation Underwater Vehicle

Abstract

The author has developed many kinds of robotic fishes based on elastic oscillating fin propulsion system from 1989. The presentation describes past, present, and future robotic fish technologies, and applications of robotic fish technologies to various fields. Firstly, the history of the developed life-like robotic fish, such as sea bream in 1995, coelacanth in 1997, carp in 2000, shark ray in 2004 etc. is mentioned. The developed robotic fishes are basically propelled by vertical tail fin and operated by servo motors. Secondly, the life-like robotic dolphin was newly developed in 2013. The author developed tethered whale robot with horizontal tail fin propelled by hydraulic actuator in 1990s, however, the robotic dolphin is untethered and higher length, that is more than 1m, and has characteristic of fast cruising and higher maneuverability with horizontal tail fin propelled by servo motors. Thirdly, new application fields of robotic fish technologies, such as medical forceps and extractors, space robots which went to International Space Station and swam in the space, and current power plant using oscillating fin propulsion system for new offshore sustainable energy are described. Finally, robotic fish technologies for the next generation underwater vehicle are summarized.