OpenFish: Biomimetic Design of a Soft Robotic Fish for High Speed Locomotion

We present OpenFish: an open source soft robotic fish which is optimized for speed and efficiency. The soft robotic fish uses a combination of an active and passive tail segment to accurately mimic the thunniform swimming mode. Through the implementation of a novel propulsion system that is capable of achieving higher oscillation frequencies with a more sinusoidal waveform, the open-source soft robotic fish was capable of achieving a top speed of 0.85 m/s. Hereby, it outperforms the previously reported fastest soft robotic fish by 27%. Besides the propulsion system, the optimization of the fish morphology played a crucial role in achieving this speed. In this work, a comprehensive overview of the optimization of the soft robotic fish through experimental, numerical and theoretical investigation into oscillating propulsion is presented. Hereby, we hope this open-source design will accelerate future research and developments in soft robotic fish.