Biomimetic Design of a Soft Robotic Fish for High Speed Locomotion

We present a novel DC motor driven soft robotic fish which is optimized for speed and efficiency based on experimental, numerical and theoretical investigation into oscillating propulsion. Our system achieves speeds up to 0.85 m/s, outperforming the previously reported fastest free swimming soft robotic fish by a significant margin of 27%. A simple and effective wire-driven active body and passive compliant body are used to mimic highly efficient thunniform swimming. The efficient DC motor to drive the system decreases internal losses compared to other soft robotic oscillating propulsion systems which are driven by one or multiple servo motors. The DC motor driven design allows for swimming at higher frequencies. The current design has been tested up to a tailbeat frequency of 5.5 Hz, and can potentially reach much higher frequencies.