The aim of this work is to investigate alternative designs for machines intended for biomimetic locomotion in liquid environments. For this, structural compliance instead of discrete assemblies is used to achieve desired mechanism kinematics. We propose two models that describe the dynamics of special compliant mechanisms that can be used to achieve biomimetic locomotion in liquid environments. In addition, we describe the use of analytical solutions for mechanism design. Prototypes that implement the proposed compliant mechanisms are presented and their performance is measured by comparing their kinematic behavior and ultimate locomotion performance with the ones of real fish. This study shows that simpler, more robust mechanisms, as the ones described in this paper, can display comparable performance to existing designs.
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e-mail: pablov@mit.edu
e-mail: youcef@mit.edu
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March 2006
Technical Papers
Design of Machines With Compliant Bodies for Biomimetic Locomotion in Liquid Environments
Pablo Valdivia y Alvarado,
Pablo Valdivia y Alvarado
Mechanical Engineering Department,
e-mail: pablov@mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02139
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Kamal Youcef-Toumi
Kamal Youcef-Toumi
Mechanical Engineering Department,
e-mail: youcef@mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02139
Search for other works by this author on:
Pablo Valdivia y Alvarado
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02139e-mail: pablov@mit.edu
Kamal Youcef-Toumi
Mechanical Engineering Department,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Cambridge, MA 02139e-mail: youcef@mit.edu
J. Dyn. Sys., Meas., Control. Mar 2006, 128(1): 3-13 (11 pages)
Published Online: September 19, 2005
Article history
Received:
March 15, 2005
Revised:
September 19, 2005
Citation
Valdivia y Alvarado, P., and Youcef-Toumi, K. (September 19, 2005). "Design of Machines With Compliant Bodies for Biomimetic Locomotion in Liquid Environments." ASME. J. Dyn. Sys., Meas., Control. March 2006; 128(1): 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2168476
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