Abstract
Bioinspired underwater robots can move efficiently, with agility, even in complex aquatic areas, reducing marine ecosystem disturbance during exploration and inspection. These robots can improve animal farming conditions and preserve wildlife. This study proposes a muscle-like control for an underactuated robot in carangiform swimming mode. The artifact exploits a single DC motor with a non-blocking transmission system to convert the motor’s oscillatory motion into the fishtail’s oscillation. The transmission system combines a magnetic coupling and a wire-driven mechanism. The control strategy was inspired by central pattern generators (CPGs) to control the torque exerted on the fishtail. It integrates proprioceptive sensory feedback to investigate the adaptability to different contexts. A parametrized control law relates the reference target to the fishtail’s angular position. Several tests were carried out to validate the control strategy. The proprioceptive feedback revealed that the controller can adapt to different environments and tail structure changes. The control law parameters variation accesses the robotic fish’s multi-modal swimming. Our solution can vary the swimming speed of 0.08 body lengths per second (BL/s), and change the steering direction and performance by an angular speed and turning curvature radius of 0.08 rad/s and 0.25 m, respectively. Performance can be improved with design changes, while still maintaining the developed control strategy. This approach ensures the robot’s maneuverability despite its underactuated structure. Energy consumption was evaluated under the robotic platform’s control and design. Our bioinspired control system offers an effective, reliable, and sustainable solution for exploring and monitoring aquatic environments, while minimizing human risks and preserving the ecosystem. Additionally, it creates new and innovative opportunities for interacting with marine species. Our findings demonstrate the potential of bioinspired technologies to advance the field of marine science and conservation.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the communal swimming pool of Pontedera staff for having made available their own spaces to do the experiments. The authors also thank Ms. Gloria Bianco and Mr. Raffaele Piciché for their assistance during the tests and their graphic support, and Mr. Luca Padovani for the useful discussion on theoretical aspects of fluid dynamics.
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Open access funding provided by Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna within the CRUI-CARE Agreement. This research was carried out in the framework of the EU H2020-MSCA-RISE-2018 ECOBOTICS.SEA Bio-inspired Technologies for a Sustainable Marine Ecosystem [824043], and the EU H2020 FETOPEN Project ‘Robocoenosis - ROBOts in cooperation with a bioCOENOSIS’ [899520]. Funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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Conceptualization: G.M., and D.R.; methodology: G.M. D.R. and C.S.; formal analysis: G.M., G.S., M.M., G.V., P.D., C.S., D.R.; investigation G.M., G.S., M.M., G.V.; resources: P.D., C.S., D.R.; data curation: G.M., D.R., C.S.; original draft: G.M.; review and editing: G.M., G.S., M.M., G.V., P.D., C.S., D.R.; supervision: D.R.
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Manduca, G., Santaera, G., Miraglia, M. et al. A Bioinspired Control Strategy Ensures Maneuverability and Adaptability for Dynamic Environments in an Underactuated Robotic Fish. J Intell Robot Syst 110, 69 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-024-02080-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-024-02080-9