Pectoral Fin Structural Design and Experiments on Robotic Cow-Nosed Ray with Backward Swimming Performance

• Published in: 水下无人系统学报 Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 32 - 39
• Main Authors: Bo LI, Yingming YU, Yonghui CAO, Yiwei HAO, Guang PAN, Yong CAO
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: Science Press (China) 01.02.2024
• Subjects: backward swimming performance; cow-nosed ray; pectoral fin design; robotic fish
• ISSN: 2096-3920
• DOI: 10.11993/j.issn.2096-3920.2023-0157

Robotic fish with pectoral fin swing have many outstanding features, especially forward swimming stability, but the research on their backward swimming performance is insufficient. Therefore, this article specifically discussed the hydrodynamic performance of the robotic cow-nosed ray with backward swimming in pectoral fin swing propulsion mode. Complete pectoral fin and split pectoral fin were designed, and the superiority of split pectoral fin structure over complete pectoral fin structure in terms of backward thrust was verified through experimental testing. The energy conversion efficiency was analyzed through the ratio of thrust to current. According to the collected current data, the equivalent thrust efficiency and amplitude and frequency variation curves of the two pectoral fin structures under forward and backward swimming conditions were drawn. The reasons for the thrust generation and equivalent thrust efficiency of two types of pectoral fin structures were analyzed. The experimental results show t