A Robotic Fish Caudal Fin: Effects of Stiffness and Motor Program on Locomotor Performance

Article Summary: “A Robotic Fish Caudal Fin: Effects of Stiffness and Motor Program on Locomotor Performance
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Introduction
This study identifies the effects of modifying the caudal fin robot via three parameters: 1) impact of altering the fin ray stiffness; 2) kinematic pattern on locomotor function and flapping frequency; and 3) lift delivered during the tail flapping cycle (Esposito et al., 2012).
Materials and Methods
Robotic Caudal Fin Design
The length is 4 times a 20cm adult bluegill sunfish. 6 engineered fin rays mimic the 19 fin rays of the biological caudal fin, all of which are exclusively set in motion using a rotational servomotor. The researchers attached low-stretch polyethylene tendons at the base of the fin ray. Toward the caudal peduncle, the supporting part of the robotic caudal fin narrows down. The fin rays are controlled via the tendons that emerge from the posterior slots of the body (Esposito et al., 2012).
Materials
The following are the materials used: 1) Compliant webbing material (82% polyester with an 18% elastane) from Under Armour; 2) Rotational devices (HS-645MG from Hitec RCD); 3) 2 Futek LSB-200 S-beam load cells; 4) 6036E data acquisition card; 5) Photron Fastcam PCI-1024 (Esposito et al., 2012).
Kinematics
The motions are flat, cupping, W, undulation, and rolling (Esposito et al., 2012).
Mechanical Properties
To compute for the flexural rigidities and three-point bending test on fresh fin rays, the modulus of elasticity (E) was multiplied by the area of Inertia (I). The first-order Euler-Bernoulli equations compute the passive flexural rigidities of the fin ray. Computed microtomography estimated the I spanning various caudal-fin rays (Esposito et al., 2012).
Experimentation
The following are the step-by-step process: 1) Testing the multiplied flexural rigiditie...