Development of an artificial fish microrobot

It is our purpose to develop an underwater microrobot that has the characteristics of flexibility, driven by a low voltage, good response and safety in body. In this paper, we propose a new prototype model of an underwater microrobot utilizing ICPF (Ionic Conducting Polymer Film) actuator as the servo actuator. Biomimetic fish-like propulsion using ICPF actuator as a propulsion tail fin for microrobot swimming structure in water or aqueous medium is developed. The overall size of the underwater microrobot prototype shaped as a boat is 40 mm in length, 10 mm in width and 2 mm in thickness. There is a pair of fins. Characteristic of the underwater microrobot is measured by changing the frequency of input voltage from 0.1 Hz to 5 Hz. The experimental results indicate that the swimming speed of proposed underwater microrobot can be controlled by changing the frequency of input voltage.