Locomotion and Depth Control of Robotic Fish with Modular Undulating Fins

This paper presents an environmental-friendly robotic system mimicking the undulating fins of a fish. To mimic the actual flexible fin of real fish, a fin-like mechanism with a series of connecting linkages is modeled and attached to the robotic fish, by virtue of a specially designed strip. Each link is able to turn and slide with respect to the adjacent link. These driving linkages are then used to form a mechanical fin consisting of several fin segments, which are able to produce undulations, similar to those produced by the actual fish fins. Owing to the modular and re-configurable design of the mechanical fin, we are able to construct biomimetic robotic fish with various swimming modes