Swimming Performance of the Frog-Inspired Soft Robot

Abstract

This article presents a frog-inspired swimming soft robot whose joints are articulated pneumatic soft actuators. The soft actuator is designed and prepared by studying the biological structure and limb movement characteristics of frogs. A schematic limb motion diagram of the robot is established based on the kinematic model, and the design scheme is determined by a combined control system. The torso size is 0.175 × 0.100 × 0.060 m, which realizes frog-inspired swimming robot miniaturization. The experimental results show that the average propulsion speed during linear motion is 0.075 m/s, and the average turning speed is 15°/s. The rationality of the robot structural design and correctness of the control system are verified by prototype experiments.