Development of a Soft Robotic Fish with BCF Propulsion Using MFC Smart Materials

Abstract

In this paper, a bio-inspired body caudal/fin (BCF) propelling robotic fish actuated by Macro Fiber Composites (MFC) smart material is developed. The fish has a length of 300mm and a mass of 475g, and its overall body is designed as a streamlined shape. The fish's compliant tail is embedded with a bimorph actuation structure sandwiching a piece of carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) between two MFC plates. The requirement of high-voltage input limits MFC's application in untethered locomotion for the development of robotic fish. An on-board micro-controller with XBee device and high-voltage amplifier is equipped for wireless control and power supply. Through the experiments of performance test, the robotic fish shows its impressive hydrodynamic performance in the water with a maximum forward speed of 174mm/s (0.58BL/s) and a maximum turning speed of 7.5deg/s which proves the strong potential of the MFC in the development of high performance robotic fish.