Design of high speed robotic fish ‘ICHTHUS V5.6’

Recently, several researchers are investigating biomimetic fish-like underwater robots expecting some advantages from mimicking real fish´s great maneuverability and high energy efficiency. However, there are still diverse problems in respect of utilizing the robotic fish in the real environment such as in the river for detecting water pollution. To be used in the real environment, robot has to relatively fast speed to overcome flow speed of the river. In this study, we mainly describe development of a robotic fish which can swim faster than our previous development. The robotic fish `Ichthus V5.6´ has a 3-DOF serial link-mechanism for its propulsion, 2-DOF for its pectoral fins. We added several sensors to navigate autonomously in the real environment like river. The developed robotic system can be applied to environmental monitoring system for monitoring pollution or quality of river with high speed.