The underwater motion simulation of a spherical amphibious robot

Abstract

Spherical amphibious robots, as a kind of novel robot, are being studied by researchers. Underwater analysis is an important field in underwater robot research. Underwater movement of the robot which this article mentioned is accomplished by interaction of servo motor and hydraulic motor. This paper presents the investigation of hydrodynamic performance of spherical amphibious robot with two essential motions, vertical motion and horizontal motion. Gambit 2.4.6 is employed to establish the 3D models and mesh. Meanwhile, simulation calculation and analysis of two models is implemented by Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, FLUENT 6.3.26. Finally, the velocity vectors, pressure contours, drag coefficient as well as force report for two states of motion are gained. Resistance of the report data shows that the robot is mainly subjected to differential pressure resistance.