Development of a pump-jet piezoelectric swimmer with acoustic radiation actuation

The acoustofluidic actuation produced by piezoelectric transducer is capable of propelling micro underwater robots forward, yet the motion pattern is relatively simplistic. To solve this problem, a pump-jet swimmer with a combination of the underwater acoustic radiation effect is proposed in this work. The absorption and discharge of internal piezoelectric pump provide the linear forward power, and turning is achieved under the acoustic propulsive force of the external dual piezoelectric actuators. The working mode and optimal driving frequency of the piezoelectric actuators are determined through finite element simulation and mechanical vibration characteristic tests. And the key dimensional parameters of the piezoelectric pump are optimized in the light of the output flow measurements. Finally, a prototype with the size of Ф3.1 cm × 12 cm is fabricated for underwater driving performance experiments, which demonstrated well functions in straight swimming, turning, and loading. The swimmer with 20 g of additional load achieves a maximum speed of 105 mm s−1at the voltage of 180 Vp-p, it also completes the obstacle avoidance in water along a certain path. The rationality of this conceived actuation mechanism is preliminarily verified, which shows a potential for fixed-point transportation in the complex underwater situations.