Development of a Fish Robot Equipped with Novel 3D Printed Soft Bending Actuators

Abstract

This paper reports on design and fabrication of a novel soft fish robot. Application of soft actuators for the fish tail will generates continuum bending motion which resembles the natural motion of the fish. However, most soft actuator mechanisms are complex and have low efficiency. Thus, to address this issue we have developed a 3D printed soft bending actuator which can be actuated with an electromotor. The basic design idea of the soft bending actuator is explained, and iteration of the design showed to create the desired motion for the soft tail. The soft actuator has been successfully integrated with fish body and it has been shown that the fish can swim.