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Kinematic Comparison of Forward and Backward Swimming and Maneuvering in a Self-Propelled Sub-Carangiform Robotic Fish

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Abstract

We make a thorough kinematic comparison of forward and backward swimming and maneuvering on a self-propelled robot platform that uses sub-carangiform swimming as the primary propulsor. An improved Central Pattern Generator (CPG) model allowing free adjustment of phase relationship and directional bias is employed to achieve flexible swimming and smooth transition. Considering the characteristics of forward swimming in carangiform fish and backward swimming in anguilliform fish, various backward swimming patterns for the sub-carangiform robotic fish are suitably created by reversing the direction of propagating propulsive waves. Through a combined use of the CPG control and closed-loop swimming direction control strategy, flexible and precise turning maneuvers in both forward and backward swimming are implemented and compared. By contrast with forward swimming, backward swimming requires a higher frequency or an increased lateral displacement to reach the same relative swimming speed. Noticeably, the phase difference shows a greater impact on forward swimming than on backward swimming. Our observations also indicate that the robotic fish achieves a larger turning rate in forward maneuvering than in backward maneuvering, yet these two maneuvers display comparable turning precision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Management and Control for Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P. R. China

    Zhengxing Wu, Junzhi Yu & Min Tan

  2. Department of Informatics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Jianwei Zhang

Authors
  1. Zhengxing Wu
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  2. Junzhi Yu
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  3. Min Tan
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  4. Jianwei Zhang
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Correspondence to Junzhi Yu.

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Wu, Z., Yu, J., Tan, M. et al. Kinematic Comparison of Forward and Backward Swimming and Maneuvering in a Self-Propelled Sub-Carangiform Robotic Fish. J Bionic Eng 11, 199–212 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(14)60037-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(14)60037-8

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