In the application of underwater creature study, comparing with propeller-powered ROVs and servo motor actuated robotic fish, novel biomimetic fish robot designs with soft actuation structure could interact with aquatic creatures closely and record authentic habitats and behaviours. This final project report presents the detailed design process of a hydraulic soft actuator powered robotic fish for aquatic creature study capable of swimming along the 3D trajectory. The robotic fish is designed based on the analysis of the pro and cons of existing designs. Except for the mechanical and electronic designs and manufacturing method of crucial components, a simplified open-loop control algorithm was designed to check the functionality of the application board and microcontroller in the Proteus simulation environment. As the key component of the robotic fish, Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations were conducted to visualise the soft actuator's deformation under different pressure to validate the design. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were also conducted to improve the hydrodynamic efficiency of the shape of robotic fish. Although physical manufacturing is impossible due to the pandemic, the simulations show overall good performance in terms of control, actuation, and hydrodynamic efficiency.
翻译:在应用水下生物研究时,与螺旋动力ROVs和Servo发动机活性机器人鱼比较,具有软活性结构的新生物模拟鱼机器人设计可以与水生生物密切互动,记录真实的生境和行为;本最后项目报告介绍了水生生物研究所需的液压软动动能机器人鱼的详细设计过程,这种水生生物研究能够沿3D轨游动;机器人鱼的设计是基于对现有设计的利弊的分析,除了机械和电子设计和关键部件的制造方法之外,还设计了一个简化的开放控制算法,以检查普罗特斯模拟环境中应用板和微控制器的功能;作为机器人鱼类的关键组成部分,进行了精密电动法模拟,以视觉化软动动能器在不同的压力下变形,以验证设计;还进行了复合液压动力学模拟,以提高机器人鱼的体动力学效率;尽管由于该流行病不可能进行物理制造,但模拟显示在水力控制、动作和水力调节方面的总体性能。