Features of the design and control of an underwater biomorphic robot of the tunniform type

Abstract

The article describes the design and main dynamic characteristics of an underwater vehicle of the biomorphic (fish-like) type, which implements the tunniform type of locomotion for movement under water. The body of the device is made on the basis of a digital model of the body of yellowfin tuna. The movement is provided by a driv-ing device that simulates the operation of the tail fin of a fish. The robot's navigation on the surface and with a dive to a shallow depth is controlled by a remote control system, which allows you to change the dynamic characteris-tics (amplitude and frequency) of tail vibrations. In the experimental study, the dependencies of the speed of movement and energy consumption of the robot depending on these characteristics were obtained. In the theoreti-cal study, a computational model of the robot was obtained based on the solution of hydrodynamic equations. In computer modeling of swimming using the method of deformable nets, a good correspondence with experimental data was obtained. In addition, the hydrodynamic characteristics of the flow during the movement of the robot were investigated, as well as various features of the vibrations of the elements of the robot body when moving in a liquid were explained.