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A special issue of Biomimetics (ISSN 2313-7673). This special issue belongs to the section "Locomotion and Bioinspired Robotics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 14562

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Zhengxing Wu

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Guest Editor

Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: bionic robot; underwater robot; intelligence control; underwater SLAM

Dr. Jincun Liu

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Guest Editor

College of Information and Electrical Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Interests: underwater bio-inspired robots; intelligent control; swarm robots

Prof. Dr. Chao Zhou

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Guest Editor

Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: biomimetic robots; micromanipulative robots; motion control

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over long-term evolution, natural organisms have developed astonishing behavior characteristics and survival skills, which can inspire the creation of novel practical devices. As masters of the sea, fish have long been the focus of considerable research because of their highly efficient and maneuverable swimming styles, which offer significant potential for improving the performance of artificial underwater devices. To effectively investigate fishlike swimming, many bionic robotic fishes have been developed in the last three decades. As the integration of ichthyologic, hydrodynamic, mechanical, electronic, control, and computer disciplines, bionic robotic fish research involves various contents, including bioinspired propulsive principles, prototype design and optimization, actuation mode, motion control, multisensor information processing, autonomous navigation, real-world applications, and so on. Bionic robotic fish shed light on the iterative interaction of fish biology and engineering technology, assisting biologists in studying the kinematic mechanism and hydrodynamic analyses of real fish, and also helping engineers to explore a practical, effective, and flexible propulsive mechanism for underwater devices.

The Special Issue entitled “Bionic Robotic Fish” will present and share recent progress and technologies in the field of bionic robotic fish. The topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Bionic robotic fish design;
Materials, structures, and actuators of bionic robotic fish;
Modeling of bionic robotic fish;
Advanced control of bionic robotic fish;
Learning methods for bionic robotic fish;
Sensing and perception for bionic robotic fish;
Autonomous navigation of bionic robotic fish;
Swarm robotic fish and multirobotic fish systems;
Applications of bionic robotic fish.

Reviews, original research, and communications are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Zhengxing Wu
Dr. Jincun Liu
Prof. Dr. Chao Zhou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomimetics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

hydrodynamic modelling
mechanical design
sensors and actuators
rhythmic generator
locomotion control
motion planning
path following
swarm intelligence
applications of bionic robotic fish

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 8924 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Mechanical Approach for Comparing Jaws in Fishes

by Federica Trotta, Roberto Sandulli and Simone Cinquemani

Biomimetics 2024, 9(4), 239; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomimetics9040239 - 16 Apr 2024

Viewed by 410

Abstract

This paper aims to propose an quantitative engineering approach to study and compare the jaw mechanisms of different marine species, considering essential mechanical parameters generally used to evaluate the performance of industrial linkage mechanisms. By leveraging these parameters, the paper demonstrates how the species’ characteristics and behaviors align with the findings of biologists, enabling a meaningful comparison that was not previously possible. Seven fish species from various families are chosen to maintain a generic approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bionic Robotic Fish)

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15 pages, 9410 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Intelligent Fish-Inspired Foraging of Swarm Robots with Sub-Group Behaviors Based on Neurodynamic Models

by Junfei Li and Simon X. Yang

Biomimetics 2024, 9(1), 16; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomimetics9010016 - 01 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1313

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel intelligent approach to swarm robotics, drawing inspiration from the collective foraging behavior exhibited by fish schools. A bio-inspired neural network (BINN) and a self-organizing map (SOM) algorithm are used to enable the swarm to emulate fish-like behaviors such as collision-free navigation and dynamic sub-group formation. The swarm robots are designed to adaptively reconfigure their movements in response to environmental changes, mimicking the flexibility and robustness of fish foraging patterns. The simulation results show that the proposed approach demonstrates improved cooperation, efficiency, and adaptability in various scenarios. The proposed approach shows significant strides in the field of swarm robotics by successfully implementing fish-inspired foraging strategies. The integration of neurodynamic models with swarm intelligence not only enhances the autonomous capabilities of individual robots, but also improves the collective efficiency of the swarm robots. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bionic Robotic Fish)

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17 pages, 3478 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Complex Modal Characteristic Analysis of a Tensegrity Robotic Fish’s Body Waves

by Bingxing Chen, Jie Zhang, Qiuxu Meng, Hui Dong and Hongzhou Jiang

Biomimetics 2024, 9(1), 6; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomimetics9010006 - 24 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1265

Abstract

A bionic robotic fish based on compliant structure can excite the natural modes of vibration, thereby mimicking the body waves of real fish to generate thrust and realize undulate propulsion. The fish body wave is a result of the fish body’s mechanical characteristics interacting with the surrounding fluid. Thoroughly analyzing the complex modal characteristics in such robotic fish contributes to a better understanding of the locomotion behavior, consequently enhancing the swimming performance. Therefore, the complex orthogonal decomposition (COD) method is used in this article. The traveling index is used to quantitatively describe the difference between the real and imaginary modes of the fish body wave. It is defined as the reciprocal of the condition number between the real and imaginary components. After introducing the BCF (body and/or caudal fin) the fish’s body wave curves and the COD method, the structural design and parameter configuration of the tensegrity robotic fish are introduced. The complex modal characteristics of the tensegrity robotic fish and real fish are analyzed. The results show that their traveling indexes are close, with two similar complex mode shapes. Subsequently, the relationship between the traveling index and swimming performance is expressed using indicators reflecting linear correlation (correlation coefficient (

R_{c}

) and p value). Based on this correlation, a preliminary optimization strategy for the traveling index is proposed, with the potential to improve the swimming performance of the robotic fish. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bionic Robotic Fish)

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19 pages, 5106 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Circular Formation Method for Biomimetic Robotic Fish Inspired by Fish Milling

by Ziye Zhou, Jincun Liu, Shihan Kong and Junzhi Yu

Biomimetics 2023, 8(8), 583; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomimetics8080583 - 01 Dec 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1258

Abstract

Circular motion phenomena, akin to fish milling, are prevalent within the animal kingdom. This paper delineates two fundamental mechanisms underlying such occurrences: forward following and circular topological communication. Leveraging these pivotal concepts, we present a multi-agent formation circular model based on a second-order integrator. This model engenders the attainment of homogeneous intelligence convergence along the circumferential trajectory. The convergence characteristics are intricately linked to the number of agents and the model parameters. Consequently, we propose positive and negative solutions for ascertaining the convergent circle property and model parameters. Furthermore, by integrating our proposed formation control methodology with a robotic fish dynamics model, we have successfully implemented simulations and experiments, demonstrating the circular formation of multiple biomimetic robotic fish. This study provides a mathematical explication for the circular motion observed in animal groups and introduces a novel approach to achieving circular formation in multiple robots inspired by biological phenomena. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bionic Robotic Fish)

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16 pages, 1645 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Performance Optimization for Bionic Robotic Dolphin with Active Variable Stiffness Control

by Di Chen, Yan Xiong, Bo Wang, Ru Tong, Yan Meng and Junzhi Yu

Biomimetics 2023, 8(7), 545; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomimetics8070545 - 13 Nov 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1405

Abstract

Aquatic animals such as fish and cetaceans can actively modulate their body stiffness with muscle to achieve excellent swimming performance under different situations. However, it is still challenging for a robotic swimmer with bionic propulsion mode to dynamically adjust its body stiffness to improve the swimming speed due to the difficulties in designing an effective stiffness adjustment structure. In this paper, based on the special torque mode of a motor, we propose an active variable stiffness control method for a robotic dolphin to pursue better swimming speed. Different from a variable stiffness structure design, a torque control strategy for the caudal motor is employed to imitate the physical property of a torsion spring to act as the variable stiffness component. In addition, we also establish a dynamic model with the Lagrangian method to explore the variable stiffness mechanism. Extensive experiments have validated the dynamic model, and then the relationships between frequency and stiffness on swimming performance are presented. More importantly, through integrating the dynamic model and torque actuation mode-based variable stiffness mechanism, the online performance optimization scheme can be easily realized, providing valuable guidance in coordinating system parameters. Finally, experiments have demonstrated the stiffness adjustment capability of the caudal joint, validating the effectiveness of the proposed control method. The results also reveal that stiffness plays an essential role in swimming motion, and the active stiffness adjustment can significantly contribute to performance improvement in both speed and efficiency. Namely, with the adjustment of stiffness, the maximum speed of our robotic dolphin achieves up to 1.12 body length per second (BL/s) at 2.88 Hz increasing by 0.44 BL/s. Additionally, the efficiency is also improved by 37%. The conducted works will offer some new insights into the stiffness adjustment of robotic swimmers for better swimming performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bionic Robotic Fish)

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20 pages, 5062 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial Domain Image Fusion with Particle Swarm Optimization and Lightweight AlexNet for Robotic Fish Sensor Fault Diagnosis

by Xuqing Fan, Sai Deng, Zhengxing Wu, Junfeng Fan and Chao Zhou

Biomimetics 2023, 8(6), 489; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomimetics8060489 - 17 Oct 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1222

Abstract

Safety and reliability are vital for robotic fish, which can be improved through fault diagnosis. In this study, a method for diagnosing sensor faults is proposed, which involves using Gramian angular field fusion with particle swarm optimization and lightweight AlexNet. Initially, one-dimensional time series sensor signals are converted into two-dimensional images using the Gramian angular field method with sliding window augmentation. Next, weighted fusion methods are employed to combine Gramian angular summation field images and Gramian angular difference field images, allowing for the full utilization of image information. Subsequently, a lightweight AlexNet is developed to extract features and classify fused images for fault diagnosis with fewer parameters and a shorter running time. To improve diagnosis accuracy, the particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to optimize the weighted fusion coefficient. The results indicate that the proposed method achieves a fault diagnosis accuracy of 99.72% when the weighted fusion coefficient is 0.276. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for diagnosing depth sensor faults in robotic fish. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bionic Robotic Fish)

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18 pages, 5188 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of a Variable-Configuration Bionic Robotic Fish

by Dan Xia, Yuyao Li, Zhihan Li, Mengqian Tian and Xingsong Wang

Biomimetics 2023, 8(5), 407; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomimetics8050407 - 01 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1260

Abstract

Bionic robotic fish have advantages over traditional underwater propulsion. Most of the existing studies have been conducted with only one type of fish as a bionic object, but a single propulsion mode may not be able to achieve the different needs of underwater operations. In this paper, we designed a pneumatic variable-configuration soft bionic fish and completed the overall structure design. It was built with a cownose ray as the main-configuration bionic object and a Caranx melampygus as the secondary-configuration bionic object. The base structure, actuators, and variable-configuration modules of the robot were made using flexible materials. After completing the design of the structure and control system of the robot, the prototype was manufactured and an underwater test was completed. The tests results indicated that the robot fish could achieve underwater linear propulsion and turning movements in both configurations. The maximum propulsion speed of the main configuration was 38.24 mm/s and the turning angle speed was 5.6°/s, and the maximum propulsion speed of its secondary configuration was 43.05 mm/s and the turning angle speed was 30°/s. The feasibility of the machine fish structure and control scheme were verified. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bionic Robotic Fish)

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21 pages, 6015 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Realization of a Novel Robotic Manta Ray for Sea Cucumber Recognition, Location, and Approach

by Yang Liu, Zhenna Liu, Heming Yang, Zheng Liu and Jincun Liu

Biomimetics 2023, 8(4), 345; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomimetics8040345 - 04 Aug 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1480

Abstract

Sea cucumber manual monitoring and fishing present various issues, including high expense and high risk. Meanwhile, compared to underwater bionic robots, employing autonomous underwater robots for sea cucumber monitoring and capture also has drawbacks, including low propulsion efficiency and significant noise. Therefore, this paper is concerned with the design of a robotic manta ray for sea cucumber recognition, localization, and approach. First, the developed robotic manta ray prototype and the system framework applied to real-time target search are elaborated. Second, by improved YOLOv5 object detection and binocular stereo-matching algorithms, precise recognition and localization of sea cucumbers are achieved. Thirdly, the motion controller is proposed for autonomous 3D monitoring tasks such as depth control, direction control, and target approach motion. Finally, the capabilities of the robot are validated through a series of measurements. Experimental results demonstrate that the improved YOLOv5 object detection algorithm achieves detection accuracies ([email protected]) of 88.4% and 94.5% on the URPC public dataset and self-collected dataset, respectively, effectively recognizing and localizing sea cucumbers. Control experiments were conducted, validating the effectiveness of the robotic manta ray’s motion toward sea cucumbers. These results highlight the robot’s capabilities in visual perception, target localization, and approach and lay the foundation to explore a novel solution for intelligent monitoring and harvesting in the aquaculture industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bionic Robotic Fish)

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19 pages, 11505 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research and Experiment on a Bionic Fish Based on High-Frequency Vibration Characteristics

by Bo Zhang, Yu Chen, Zhuo Wang and Hongwen Ma

Biomimetics 2023, 8(2), 253; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomimetics8020253 - 14 Jun 2023

Viewed by 1541

Abstract

This paper takes the high-frequency vibration characteristics of a bionic robot fish as the research object. Through research on the vibration characteristics of a bionic fish, we quantified the role of voltage and beat frequency in high-speed and stable swimming. We proposed a new type of electromagnetic drive. The tail is made of 0° silica gel to simulate the elastic characteristics of fish muscles. We completed a series of experimental studies on the vibration characteristics of biomimetic robotic fish. Through the single-joint fishtail underwater experiment, the influence of vibration characteristics on parameters during swimming was discussed. In terms of control, the central mode generator control method (CPG) control model is adopted, and a replacement layer is designed in combination with particle swarm optimization (PSO). By changing the elastic modulus of the fishtail, the fishtail resonates with the vibrator, and the swimming efficiency of the bionic fish is improved. Finally, through the prototype experiment, it is found that the bionic robot fish can achieve high-speed swimming through high-frequency vibration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bionic Robotic Fish)

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Review

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26 pages, 33283 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review of Robotic Fish Based on Smart Materials

by Shiwei Ma, Quanliang Zhao, Meixi Ding, Mengying Zhang, Lei Zhao, Can Huang, Jie Zhang, Xu Liang, Junjie Yuan, Xingtao Wang and Guangping He

Biomimetics 2023, 8(2), 227; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomimetics8020227 - 29 May 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2429

Abstract

The present study focuses on summarizing the recent advancements in the field of fish swimming mode research and bionic robotic fish prototypes based on smart materials. It has been widely acknowledged that fish exhibit exceptional swimming efficiency and manoeuvrability compared to conventional underwater vehicles. In the pursuit of developing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), conventional experimental methods often prove to be complex and expensive. Hence, the utilization of computer simulations for hydrodynamic modelling provides a cost-effective and efficient approach for analysing the swimming behaviour of bionic robotic fish. Additionally, computer simulations can provide data that are difficult to obtain through experimental methods. Smart materials, which integrate perception, drive, and control functions, are increasingly being applied to bionic robotic fish research. However, the utilization of smart materials in this field is still an area of ongoing research and several challenges remain unresolved. This study provides an overview of the current state of research on fish swimming modes and the development of hydrodynamic modelling. The application of four distinct types of smart materials in bionic robotic fish is then reviewed, with a focus on analysing the advantages and disadvantages of each material in driving swimming behaviour. In conclusion, the paper highlights the key technical challenges that must be addressed for the practical implementation of bionic robotic fish and provides insights into the potential future directions of this field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bionic Robotic Fish)

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