Hitomi Taro, Sato Ryuki, Ming Aiguo
Department of Mechanical and Intelligent Systems Engineering, The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo 1828585, Japan.
Biomimetics (Basel). 2025 Jun 4;10(6):365. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics10060365.
As a soft actuator for fish robots, an oblique cone dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) module inspired by the structure of white muscles in fish was proposed in the authors' previous study. However, a mathematical model of an oblique cone DEA was not established, and designing a drive module that took into account its driving characteristics and passivity for integration into a fish robot remained a challenge. The purpose of this paper is to develop a vertebrate fish robot using multiple oblique cone DEA modules to achieve fish-like bending capability. First, an oblique cone DEA module was modeled for the design of a fish robot. The relationships among bending angle, blocking torque, driving voltage, and design parameters were established and confirmed by comparing the calculated and experimental results. Based on the modeling results, we designed an oblique cone DEA module-connected vertebrate fish robot. Finally, the experimental results of the fabricated fish robot demonstrated that the model-based design enabled flexible body swinging and swimming through a multiple-module-connected vertebrate structure.
作为一种用于鱼类机器人的软驱动器，作者在之前的研究中提出了一种受鱼类白肌结构启发的斜锥介电弹性体驱动器（DEA）模块。然而，尚未建立斜锥DEA的数学模型，设计一个考虑其驱动特性和被动性以集成到鱼类机器人中的驱动模块仍然是一个挑战。本文的目的是开发一种使用多个斜锥DEA模块的脊椎动物鱼类机器人，以实现类似鱼类的弯曲能力。首先，为鱼类机器人的设计对斜锥DEA模块进行建模。通过比较计算结果和实验结果，建立并确认了弯曲角度、堵转扭矩、驱动电压和设计参数之间的关系。基于建模结果，我们设计了一个连接斜锥DEA模块的脊椎动物鱼类机器人。最后，所制造的鱼类机器人的实验结果表明，基于模型的设计能够通过多模块连接的脊椎动物结构实现灵活的身体摆动和游动。
