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http://dx.doi.org/10.5762/KAIS.2020.21.5.103

Design and Manufacturing of Robotic Dolphin with Variable Stiffness Mechanism  

Park, Yong-Jai (Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kangwon National University)
Publication Information
Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society / v.21, no.5, 2020 , pp. 103-110 More about this Journal
Abstract
Bio-inspired underwater robots have been studied to improve the dynamic performance of fins, such as swimming speed and efficiency, which is the most basic performance. Among them, bio-inspired soft robots with a compliant tail fin can have high degrees of freedom. On the other hand, to improve the driving efficiency of the compliant fins, the stiffness of the tail fin should be changed with the driving frequency. Therefore, a new type of variable stiffness mechanism has been developed and verified. This study, which was inspired by the anatomy of a real dolphin, assessed a process of designing and manufacturing a robotic dolphin with a variable stiffness mechanism. By mimicking the vertebrae of a dolphin, the variable stiffness driving part was manufactured using subtractive and additive manufacturing. A driving tendon was placed considering the location of the tendon in the actual dolphin, and the additional tendon was installed to change its stiffness. A robotic dolphin was designed and manufactured in a streamlined shape, and the swimming speed was measured by varying the stiffness. When the stiffness of the tail fin was varied at the same driving frequency, the swimming speed and thrust changed by approximately 1.24 and 1.5 times, respectively.
Keywords
Bio-inspired Robot; Robotic Dolphin; Variable Stiffness; Soft Robotics; Design; Manufacturing;
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