Propeller of Amphibious Robot Optimizing Design Based on Integrated Software Platform

The propeller of amphibious robot is a device facilitating the robot to swim and climb. Integrated software platform (ISP) is an optimization tool coupling some commercial design software with optimization software iSIGHT. Two types of commercial software are integrated in the ISP for optimizing mass and thrust of propeller. CAD software is used to design the propeller and calculate its mass, and CFD software is used to compute propeller thrust. The two optimization objectives as minimizing mass and maximizing thrust at the same time conflicts, thus a modified objective function including both objectives is formulated as the design function. In the paper, design of experiment (DOE) has been applied and variable effects on design function based on Pareto plot have been analyzed. The design process uses response surface model (RSM) to approximate mathematical model of the design objective as the function of design variables, and the approximated polynomial model is given. The optimal combination of the design variables affecting the propeller performance has been plotted using contour line.