A Manta Ray Robot with Soft Material Based Flapping Wing

Liu, Qimeng; Chen, Hao; Wang, Zhenhua; He, Qu; Chen, Linke; Li, Weikun; Li, Ruipeng; Cui, Weicheng

doi:10.3390/jmse10070962

Open AccessArticle

A Manta Ray Robot with Soft Material Based Flapping Wing

by

Qimeng Liu

^1,2

,

Hao Chen

^1,2

,

Zhenhua Wang

^1,2

,

Qu He

^1,2,

Linke Chen

²,

Weikun Li

²

,

Ruipeng Li

² and

Weicheng Cui

^2,*

¹

Zhejiang University-Westlake University Joint Training, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310024, China

²

Key Laboratory of Coastal Environment and Resources of Zhejiang Province (KLaCER), School of Engineering, Westlake University, Hangzhou 310024, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10(7), 962; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10070962

Submission received: 19 June 2022 / Revised: 4 July 2022 / Accepted: 12 July 2022 / Published: 14 July 2022

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Frontiers in Deep-Sea Equipment and Technology)

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Abstract

Recent research on robotic fish mainly focused on the bionic structure design and realizing the movement with smart materials. Although many robotic fish have been proposed, most of these works were oriented toward shallow water environments and are mostly built with purely rigid structures, limiting the mobility and practical usability of robotic fish. Inspired by the stability of the real manta ray, a manta ray robot design is proposed with soft material made flapping wing based on an open-source ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle). The flapping wing structure with three different materials mimics the wide pectoral fins of real manta rays, which have bones, muscles, and skin. Furthermore, its modular design makes it easy to install and disassemble. The kinematic and hydrodynamic analysis of the manta ray robot are simulated in this paper. The actual manta ray robot is fabricated and several sets of test are performed in the pool. The robot can swim forward continually and stably with a simple rolling and pitching pattern.

Keywords: manta ray; Bionic Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (BAUV); flapping wing

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MDPI and ACS Style

Liu, Q.; Chen, H.; Wang, Z.; He, Q.; Chen, L.; Li, W.; Li, R.; Cui, W. A Manta Ray Robot with Soft Material Based Flapping Wing. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10, 962. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10070962

AMA Style

Liu Q, Chen H, Wang Z, He Q, Chen L, Li W, Li R, Cui W. A Manta Ray Robot with Soft Material Based Flapping Wing. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 2022; 10(7):962. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10070962

Chicago/Turabian Style

Liu, Qimeng, Hao Chen, Zhenhua Wang, Qu He, Linke Chen, Weikun Li, Ruipeng Li, and Weicheng Cui. 2022. "A Manta Ray Robot with Soft Material Based Flapping Wing" Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 10, no. 7: 962. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10070962

APA Style

Liu, Q., Chen, H., Wang, Z., He, Q., Chen, L., Li, W., Li, R., & Cui, W. (2022). A Manta Ray Robot with Soft Material Based Flapping Wing. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 10(7), 962. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10070962

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