Cartilage structure increases swimming efficiency of underwater robots

Abstract Underwater robots are useful for exploring valuable resources and marine life. Traditional underwater robots use screw propellers, which may be harmful to marine life. In contrast, robots that incorporate the swimming principles, morphologies, and softness of aquatic animals are expected to...

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Autores principales:	Masaki Yurugi, Makoto Shimanokami, Toshiaki Nagai, Jun Shintake, Yusuke Ikemoto
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e920dcf2778b40a3a5feabfb0c94663e
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e920dcf2778b40a3a5feabfb0c94663e2021-12-02T14:49:18ZCartilage structure increases swimming efficiency of underwater robots10.1038/s41598-021-90926-92045-2322https://doaj.org/article/e920dcf2778b40a3a5feabfb0c94663e2021-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-90926-9https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Underwater robots are useful for exploring valuable resources and marine life. Traditional underwater robots use screw propellers, which may be harmful to marine life. In contrast, robots that incorporate the swimming principles, morphologies, and softness of aquatic animals are expected to be more adaptable to the surrounding environment. Rajiform is one of the swimming forms observed in nature, which swims by generating the traveling waves on flat large pectoral fins. From an anatomical point of view, Rajiform fins consist of cartilage structures encapsulated in soft tissue, thereby realizing anisotropic stiffness. We hypothesized that such anisotropy is responsible for the generation of traveling waves that enable a highly efficient swimming. We validate our hypothesis through the development of a stingray robot made of silicone-based cartilages and soft tissue. For comparison, we fabricate a robot without cartilages, as well as the one combining soft tissue and cartilage materials. The fabricated robots are tested to clarify their stiffness and swimming performance. The results show that inclusion of cartilage structure in the robot fins increases the swimming efficiency. It is suggested that arrangement and distribution of soft and hard areas inside the body structure is a key factor to realize high-performance soft underwater robots.Masaki YurugiMakoto ShimanokamiToshiaki NagaiJun ShintakeYusuke IkemotoNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Masaki Yurugi Makoto Shimanokami Toshiaki Nagai Jun Shintake Yusuke Ikemoto Cartilage structure increases swimming efficiency of underwater robots
description	Abstract Underwater robots are useful for exploring valuable resources and marine life. Traditional underwater robots use screw propellers, which may be harmful to marine life. In contrast, robots that incorporate the swimming principles, morphologies, and softness of aquatic animals are expected to be more adaptable to the surrounding environment. Rajiform is one of the swimming forms observed in nature, which swims by generating the traveling waves on flat large pectoral fins. From an anatomical point of view, Rajiform fins consist of cartilage structures encapsulated in soft tissue, thereby realizing anisotropic stiffness. We hypothesized that such anisotropy is responsible for the generation of traveling waves that enable a highly efficient swimming. We validate our hypothesis through the development of a stingray robot made of silicone-based cartilages and soft tissue. For comparison, we fabricate a robot without cartilages, as well as the one combining soft tissue and cartilage materials. The fabricated robots are tested to clarify their stiffness and swimming performance. The results show that inclusion of cartilage structure in the robot fins increases the swimming efficiency. It is suggested that arrangement and distribution of soft and hard areas inside the body structure is a key factor to realize high-performance soft underwater robots.
format	article
author	Masaki Yurugi Makoto Shimanokami Toshiaki Nagai Jun Shintake Yusuke Ikemoto
author_facet	Masaki Yurugi Makoto Shimanokami Toshiaki Nagai Jun Shintake Yusuke Ikemoto
author_sort	Masaki Yurugi
title	Cartilage structure increases swimming efficiency of underwater robots
title_short	Cartilage structure increases swimming efficiency of underwater robots
title_full	Cartilage structure increases swimming efficiency of underwater robots
title_fullStr	Cartilage structure increases swimming efficiency of underwater robots
title_full_unstemmed	Cartilage structure increases swimming efficiency of underwater robots
title_sort	cartilage structure increases swimming efficiency of underwater robots
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e920dcf2778b40a3a5feabfb0c94663e
work_keys_str_mv	AT masakiyurugi cartilagestructureincreasesswimmingefficiencyofunderwaterrobots AT makotoshimanokami cartilagestructureincreasesswimmingefficiencyofunderwaterrobots AT toshiakinagai cartilagestructureincreasesswimmingefficiencyofunderwaterrobots AT junshintake cartilagestructureincreasesswimmingefficiencyofunderwaterrobots AT yusukeikemoto cartilagestructureincreasesswimmingefficiencyofunderwaterrobots
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Cartilage structure increases swimming efficiency of underwater robots

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