Study on the Rowing of Flexible Actuating Leg on Water Surface Intimating Water Striders

Abstract

The superior motion characteristics of water striders on water surface have attracted many scholars to study on their physiological structure, actuating mechanism and bionic robots etc.. However, most of the researches on bionic robot do not reflect the flexibility of water surface movement at present. Biological research shows that the water striders’ actuating legs deform when they skate on water surface, which brings higher motion efficiency and stability. Therefore, this paper presents study on the performance of the flexible actuating leg intimating the water strider with theoretical and experimental methods. Based on the microelement cantilever beam theory, models of the deformation and force are established. The effects of the force, deformation and work of flexible legs are analyzed according to the elastic modulus, geometry, rowing velocity and water depth. Based on the lever principle, a platform for measuring the force of the flexible actuating leg was built. Legs with different stiffness and size were made by 3D printing. Experiments were carried out to test the water-rowing performance of flexible actuating legs with different materials, speeds, depths, and diameters. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the flexible actuating leg can achieve bigger velocity before it penetrating the water than rigid actuating legs. The flexible actuating leg can do more work by single rowing. And it is beneficial to improve the overall stability of the robot for interacting with water surface more flexibly.