Biomimetic Micro Underwater Vehicle with Oscillating Fin Propulsion: System Design and Force Measurement

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and force measurement of a centimeter scale micro underwater vehicle mimicking a boxfish. The principles of locomotion of real boxfish have been investigated thoroughly from a biological point of view, but attempts to replicate such a device within the research community of Micro Underwater Vehicles (MUV) have been quite limited. The authors have developed a electromechanical device with rigid body propelled by a oscillating tail fin and steered by a pair of independent side fins. The oscilating motions of the fins are independently controlled by PZT bimorph actuators driving four-bar mechanisms for motion amplification. The goal is to build a centimeter-length microrobotic fish capable of sustained autonomous swimming, which can then be used in marine micro-organism sensing, underwater ship wreck explorations, in-pipe inspections, and in forming underwater sensor networks. In this paper, we present the system concept design, fabrication and preliminary experimental measurements.