Three-Dimensional Dynamic Modeling and Motion Analysis of a Fin-Actuated Robot

Dynamic modeling has beencapturing the attention for its fundamentality in precise locomotion analyses and control of underwater robots. In this article, we focused on the 3-D dynamic modeling and the experimental validation of multiple motion patterns of underwater robots in large-scale parameter space. A 3-D dynamic model of an active-tail-actuated robotic fish with a barycentre regulating mechanism was first built by combining Newton’s second law for linear motion and Euler’s equation for angular motion. Then, the model parameters were determined by 3-D computer-aided design software SolidWorks, HyperFlow-based computational fluid dynamics simulation, and grey-box model estimation method. Finally, both kinematic experiments with a prototype and numerical simulations were applied to validate the dynamic model’s accuracy mutually. Based on the dynamic model, multiple 3-D motions, including rectilinear motion, turning motion, surfacing motion, and spiral motion, were analyzed. The experimental and simulation results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed model in evaluating the trajectory, attitude, and motion parameters such as the velocity, turning radius, turning angular velocity of the robotic fish.