A centimeter-scale autonomous robotic fish actuated by IPMC actuator

This paper presents the research toward centimetre-scale autonomous robotic fish mimicking a kind of goldfish. The robotic fish is propelled by an iconic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuator and equipped with a microcontroller and an infrared sensor for wireless control, autonomous navigation and obstacle avoidance. To improve turning ability of the robotic fish, we set the length of caudal fin and the flexible part to half of the whole length. The overall size of the robotic fish is 98 mm in length, 30 mm in width, and 22 mm in thickness. The weight of the robotic fish is 21.9g. The obstacle avoidance method, remote control and turning mechanism of the robotic fish are described respectively in this paper. The experimental results show that the structure of the robotic fish and its avoidance function, remote control and turning method are feasible. In centimetre-scale autonomous robotic fish driven by IPMC actuator, the obstacle avoidance function makes our robotic fish smarter. With the help of this robotic fish we can do some low speed and high maneuver tasks in limited space easily.