In the field of marine biology-inspired robotics, anguilliform locomotion, as one of the most common underwater propulsion types, has been widely studied and implemented in many robot prototypes. Most of these robots consisted of rigid parts, and they were able to generate smooth sine waves along the robot body using a great number of rigid segments, electric motors, and complicated control. To simplify the robot structures and improve body compliance, anguilliform robots with a full soft body are highly desirable for better biomimicry. In this article, we propose a serial soft-actuator array consisting of four fiber-reinforced, bidirectionally bending, fluidic elastomer actuators (FEAs) to achieve the generation of anguilliform body waves. The FEA is fabricated using the typical soft lithography method with dual-chamber configuration and fiber reinforcement. The bending performance of the single FEA in free space with static loads was measured and compared with the three-dimensional simulation results using the finite element method. After that, the FEA array was assembled using the through-chamber tube connection and tested in water to investigate the bending performance with dynamic loads. Finally, with coordinated control of each segment, this FEA array achieved the generation of anguilliform body waves with different frequencies and amplitudes, which unveils a novel and promising approach to develop an anguilliform underwater robot. By attaching this FEA array to a miniaturized stand-alone station for control and actuation, an untethered swimming robot was built and successfully propelled by the FEA array, which demonstrates the capabilities and potentials of this soft and slender robot body design.

中文翻译：

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使用纤维增强的软流体弹性体致动器阵列为鳗鱼运动产生体波，以开发鳗鱼启发式水下软机器人

在以海洋生物学为灵感的机器人技术领域中，伞形运动是最常见的水下推进类型之一，已在许多机器人原型中得到了广泛的研究和实施。这些机器人大多数由刚性部件组成，并且能够使用大量刚性部件，电动机和复杂的控制装置沿机器人本体生成平滑的正弦波。为了简化机器人的结构并提高身体的适应性，为获得更好的仿生效果，迫切需要具有完整柔软体的无角形机器人。在本文中，我们提出了一个串联的软致动器阵列，该阵列由四个纤维增强的双向弯曲的流体弹性体致动器（FEA）组成，以实现弯形体波的产生。FEA是使用具有双腔室配置和纤维增强功能的典型软光刻方法制造的。测量了单个FEA在具有静载荷的自由空间中的弯曲性能，并将其与使用有限元方法的三维仿真结果进行了比较。之后，使用通气管连接组装FEA阵列，并在水中进行测试以研究动态载荷下的弯曲性能。最后，在每个部分的协调控制下，此FEA阵列实现了具有不同频率和幅度的弯形人体波的产生，这揭示了开发弯形水下机器人的新颖且有希望的方法。通过将此FEA阵列连接到小型独立工作站进行控制和驱动，