Title
Design and Control of a Two-Motor-Actuated Tuna-Inspired Robot System
Abstract
This article presents the mechanical design and locomotion control of a novel tuna-inspired robot system for both fast swimming and high maneuverability. Mechanically, the developed robotic fish named CasiTuna comprises three important parts, i.e., an innovative two-motor-actuated propulsive mechanism, a buoyancy adjustment structure, and a pair of pectoral fins. Unlike most robotic fishes' multiple concatenated links-based propulsive mechanism, CasiTuna's two-motor-actuated one places both motors in the anterior body and utilizes a transmission system to achieve tuna-like lateral undulations. Meanwhile, the buoyancy adjustment mechanism in conjunction with pectoral fins endows the robot with the capability of three-dimensional maneuverability. Kinematic and dynamic analyses are further conducted to reveal the interactive hydrodynamic forces. Regarding the locomotion control method, a bio-inspired central pattern generator-based controller is adopted to achieve multimodal swimming. In particular, two kinds of turning maneuvers are implemented and discussed. Aquatic experiments, including straight swimming, circular turning, and nearly static pitching validate the effectiveness of proposed mechatronic design and locomotion control methods. Remarkably, CasiTuna achieved a peak forward speed of 0.8 m/s (corresponding to 1.52 body lengths per second) and a minimum turning radius of less than 0.3 body lengths.
Year
DOI
Venue
2021
10.1109/TSMC.2019.2944786
IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems
Keywords
DocType
Volume
Bio-inspired robot,fast swimming,maneuverability,robotic tuna,underwater robot
Journal
51
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
8
2168-2216
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
0
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Sheng Du101.01
Zhengxing Wu28419.10
Jian Wang317973.08
Suwen Qi4112.40
Junzhi Yu5851121.67