The platform for remote driving of a biomimetic propulsor and measurement of longitudinal and lateral forces generated by the propulsor

Abstract

The performance characterization of a biomimetic propulsor for a swimming or flying robot typically requires measurement of the longitudinal and lateral forces generated by the propulsion of the propulsor. The propulsor can be either a tail (without or with a peduncle) or a morphing fin (wing), with multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs), and ideally the driving motors are designed to mount outside the propulsor to reduce the mass inertia and moment of inertia of the propulsor. In this article, we design and provide a robust and versatile platform that incorporate the mechanical two-DOFs lever unit and the measurement unit, as well as the configurable driving unit. The two-DOFs lever unit enables the freedoms of the longitudinal and lateral movements but are tightly constrained by the measurement unit that is fixed on the platform carriage for measurement of the longitudinal and lateral forces generated by the propulsor. The driving unit has the motors and the cable-driven modules that are configurable for bidirectional remote actuation, which is plug-and-play and flexible for different types and different numbers of motors. An experiment of the peduncle and the tail for propulsion is illustrated with this platform. The design here also serves as a design guidance for a platform for morphing wings.