Robotic Fish Tail Motion Excitation by Adaptive Control

摘要

The objective of this work is to develop adaptive control for mechanical design of a biomimetic underwater vehicle. The aim is to construct vehicle control prototypes with propulsion mechanisms with the lowest possible complexity by using vibrations with adaptive control. This mechanical design can be then used to produce various gaits of locomotion in response to various hydrodynamic events.
\nSuccess made in biological research mean we know much more about how animals survive, for instance deep-sea creatures' sensory organs or geckos' gravity-defying feet. The speed, power, and size of computers mean we can create programs that mimic neurophysiologic brain functions. Reverse engineering (tracking a result through its process to its source) has as a tenet that the cause exists. Therefore, just knowing there is an animal that can track moving objects while flying through space without visible light, proves that it's possible [1]. At present, the research in biomimetic underwater robotics has been partially driven by the necessity to develop more efficient, flexible, maneuverable, stable and adaptable vehicles capable of operating in a large variety of hard environments. The main driving force of the development is that the underwater vehicles in use today are designed for stable and open waters. These machines use propellers to generate thrust, and have very limited maneuverability.
\nTherefore, Biomimetic underwater vehicles are mainly needed for environments where good maneuverability, ability to produce thrust in many directions and rapid real-time control in response to sudden hydrodynamic events is a must. Rapid control and high maneuverability as well as the decreased scale are such achieved without an increased complexity. 
\nAnother advantage of the proposed mechanical design model is that it is fairly easy to model and control in real time. There is a good theoretical understanding developed over years about vibrations of elastic cords. It makes it possible to analyses the kinematics of the fin actuators and controls them. The control of the fish is then equivalent to finding appropriate excitation frequencies to produce the desired locomotion patterns
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