Performance Study of an Underwater Snake-like Robot with a Flexible Caudal Fin

Abstract

This paper studies the influence of various parameters on the performance of the underwater snake-like robot's thrust, including swimming gait, motion parameter, and tail shape. An underwater snake-like robot prototype with a caudal fin is introduced. Three types of gaits are performed on the prototype with two different shapes of the tail, respectively. By changing the motion parameters of the three swimming gaits, a total of one hundred and fifty series of experiments are implemented. The measurement results enable us to find out the relationship between these various parameters and the thrust generated by the underwater snake-like robot.