Central Pattern Generator Based Control of a Wire-driven Robot Fish

Abstract

In recent years, a large number of robot fish have been built, though few has the performance comparable to the fish in nature. One of the key reasons is the control. Real fish have rhythmic motion that follow several specific patterns. It inspires us to develop the Central Pattern Generator (CPG) based control. The objectives of the CPG based control are (a) to match the rhythmic flapping pattern of the fish described by Lighthill's Elongated Body Theory (EBT) and (b) to make a smooth transition from one state to another upon receiving a high-level control command. We implemented the CPG based control in our wire-driven robot fish with a compliant tail. Three sets of experiments were conducted showing that the two objectives have been fulfilled.