This paper presents the first steps toward a soft dolphin robot using a bio-inspired approach to mimic dolphin flexibility. The current dolphin robot uses a minimalist approach, with only two actuated cable-driven degrees of freedom actuated by a pair of motors. The actuated tail moves up and down in a swimming motion, but this first proof of concept does not permit controlled turns of the robot. While existing robotic dolphins typically use revolute joints to articulate rigid bodies, our design – which will be made opensource – incorporates a flexible tail with tunable silicone skin and actuation flexibility via a cable-driven system, which mimics muscle dynamics and design flexibility with a tunable skeleton structure. The design is also tunable since the backbone can be easily printed in various geometries. The paper provides insights into how a few such variations affect robot motion and efficiency, measured by speed and cost of transport (COT). This approach demonstrates the potential of achieving dolphin-like motion through enhanced flexibility in bio-inspired robotics.


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    Title :

    An Untethered Bioinspired Robotic Tensegrity Dolphin with Multi-Flexibility Design for Aquatic Locomotion


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2025-04-22


    Size :

    5290290 byte





    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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