LAUSR

Bio-inspired robotic fish are proving to be promising underwater vehicles whose high propulsion efficiency, stealth, and compact size make them suitable for remote sensing missions in intelligence collection, environmental monitoring, and fishing agriculture. In this research, a two-dimensional (2D), maneuverable, bio-inspired robotic fish propelled by multiple ionic polymermetal composite artificial fins was developed. The movement of this fish, equipped with one caudal fin and two pectoral fins, was then modeled by a nonlinear dynamic model for design and control purposes. Experiments were conducted to verify the model’s capabilities of characterizing the robotic fish’s 2D movement. The forward-swimming speed reached about 12 mm/s and the turning speed reached about 2.5 deg/s.