Bionic asymmetry: from amiiform fish to undulating robotic fins

• 来源期刊: 科学通报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2009,（4）
• 页码范围: 562-568
• 页数: 7页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.1007/s11434-009-0089-3

摘要

Similar to bionic non-smooth which has been successfully applied in anti-resistance and anti-adhesion, bionic asymmetry is also an inherent property of biological systems and is worth exploring for con-ceivable pragmatic applications. Therefore, bionic asymmetry for undulations is of main interest in this paper. We initially investigate bionic asymmetry with a case study of the undulating robotic fin, RoboGnilos, which evolved from the long dorsal fin of Gymnarchus niloticus in the amiiforrn mode. Since the performance of the pre-existing undulating fins is hardly satisfactory, we obtain bionic in-spirations of undulatory asymmetry through observations and measurements on the specimen of G. niloticus, to improve upon the performance. Consequently, the newly acquired innovation for bionic asymmetry is incorporated into the previously derived kinematics model, and also applied to the ex-perimental prototype. Both computational and experimental results verify that bionic asymmetric un-dulation generates better propulsion performance (in terms of linear velocity and efficiency) than the traditional symmetric modes with the same undulatory parameters.