What do 3-D printing robotic fish do? Underwater data acquisition and toxin detection are the housekeeping skills of these ugly fish. The data collected are of great significance for studying water quality and protecting biodiversity. It is no wonder that many scientific research institutes are studying this direction.
Firat University of Turkey believes that bionic design can provide solutions for various marine applications, such as observing biological and underwater resources, detecting and preventing pollution, detecting coastline risks, measuring submerged areas, and detecting pipeline failures. Recently, Firat University published a paper entitled "Mechanical and Electrical Design and Manufacture of Biomimetic Intelligent Machine Fish", discussing the process of developing autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) using 3D printing, artificial intelligence and bionics.
The Abstract reads: "This paper introduces the mechatronics design and manufacture of the prototype of bionic intelligent robotic fish (i-RoF). The robotic fish here has a tail propulsion structure with two connecting rods. In the aspect of design, multi-chain bionic method is used to imitate the real size and structure of carp by referring to the physical characteristics of carp. According to the swimming mode of the carp and the frequency of the tail oscillation, the body proportion of the fish body is determined. The prototype of carp consists of three parts: the front fish body, the tail propulsion structure with two connecting rods and the flexible tail fin. The prototype is produced by 3D printing technology. The swimming posture of the fish is simulated by the bionic motion control system of the central mode generator (CPG). The unidirectional chain CPG system designed to simulate nerve and spinal cord oscillates smoothly. In addition, the CoG control system is used to keep the fish body in a three-dimensional state. When tested in the laboratory pool, the robot fish successfully completed forward, turn, upstream and downstream automatic and autonomous swimming. Maximum speed of up to 0.8516 BLs-1, excellent performance.
When designing, the most important consideration is its body structure and swimming pattern, so researchers spend a lot of time observing the fish. More than 85% of fish swim by bending their body or tail fins, while others use their middle body or pectoral fins, the paper says.
The 3D model of robotic fish is first designed with SOLIDWORKS and then transferred to Voxelizer. The 3D model is printed with PLA material. The flexible tail fin is made of silica gel mould. After printing, the fish body is covered with epoxy resin to prevent micropore leakage. After assembly, the body surface is covered with synthetic paint, which plays a further waterproof role.
Robotfish can sense its surroundings when swimming because it has three infrared distance sensors, weighing about 3.1 kg, measuring about 500 mm in length, 76 mm in width and 215 mm in height.
source:Poplar three time focus on 3D printing