Exploration of underwater life with an acoustically controlled soft robotic fish

A soft robot fish swims independently in three dimensions and enables studies of aquatic life in natural coral reef habitats. Closeup exploration of underwater life requires new forms of interaction, using biomimetic creatures that are capable of agile swimming maneuvers, equipped with cameras, and supported by remote human operation. Current robotic prototypes do not provide adequate platforms for studying marine life in their natural habitats. This work presents the design, fabrication, control, and oceanic testing of a soft robotic fish that can swim in three dimensions to continuously record the aquatic life it is following or engaging. Using a miniaturized acoustic communication module, a diver can direct the fish by sending commands such as speed, turning angle, and dynamic vertical diving. This work builds on previous generations of robotic fish that were restricted to one plane in shallow water and lacked remote control. Experimental results gathered from tests along coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean show that the robotic fish can successfully navigate around aquatic life at depths ranging from 0 to 18 meters. Furthermore, our robotic fish exhibits a lifelike undulating tail motion enabled by a soft robotic actuator design that can potentially facilitate a more natural integration into the ocean environment. We believe that our study advances beyond what is currently achievable using traditional thruster-based and tethered autonomous underwater vehicles, demonstrating methods that can be used in the future for studying the interactions of aquatic life and ocean dynamics.

[1]  Shengli Zhou,et al.  Prospects and Problems of Wireless Communication for Underwater Sensor , 2008 .

[2]  G. Lauder,et al.  Passive robotic models of propulsion by the bodies and caudal fins of fish. , 2012, Integrative and comparative biology.

[3]  Ian D. Walker,et al.  Soft robotics: Biological inspiration, state of the art, and future research , 2008 .

[4]  Cagdas D. Onal,et al.  Towards a Self-contained Soft Robotic Fish: On-Board Pressure Generation and Embedded Electro-permanent Magnet Valves , 2012, ISER.

[5]  Daniela Rus,et al.  A Compact Acoustic Communication Module for Remote Control Underwater , 2015, WUWNet.

[6]  Koji Shibuya,et al.  Underwater Robot with a Buoyancy Control System Based on the Spermaceti Oil Hypothesis , 2006, 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[7]  Kyu-Jin Cho,et al.  Review of biomimetic underwater robots using smart actuators , 2012 .

[8]  Douglas H. Cato,et al.  Marine biological choruses observed in tropical waters near Australia , 1978 .

[9]  Research Challenges , 2014, Encyclopedia of Social Network Analysis and Mining.

[10]  G. Whitesides,et al.  Soft Lithography. , 1998, Angewandte Chemie.

[11]  N. Patrikalakis,et al.  Design and control of a field deployable batoid robot , 2012, 2012 4th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob).

[12]  Milica Stojanovic,et al.  Underwater Acoustic Communications and Networking: Recent Advances and Future Challenges , 2008 .

[13]  B. Block,et al.  Hydraulic control of tuna fins: A role for the lymphatic system in vertebrate locomotion , 2017, Science.

[14]  Jeffrey H. Lang,et al.  Design Principles for Energy-Efficient Legged Locomotion and Implementation on the MIT Cheetah Robot , 2015, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[15]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[16]  Alejandro Maldonado-RamL,et al.  Ethologically inspired Reactive Exploration of Coral Reefs with Collision Avoidance: Bridging the Gap between Human and Robot Spatial Understanding of Unstructured Environments , 2015 .

[17]  Thomas Schmickl,et al.  Profiling Underwater Swarm Robotic Shoaling Performance Using Simulation , 2013, TAROS.

[18]  P. Fischer,et al.  Habitat structure and fish: assessing the role of habitat complexity for fish using a small, semiportable, 3‐D underwater observatory , 2007 .

[19]  Carrick Detweiler,et al.  Saving Energy with Buoyancy and Balance Control for Underwater Robots with Dynamic Payloads , 2008, ISER.

[20]  Uwe R. Zimmer,et al.  Distributed shape control of homogeneous swarms of autonomous underwater vehicles , 2007, Auton. Robots.

[21]  C. Stefanini,et al.  Multiple cues produced by a robotic fish modulate aggressive behaviour in Siamese fighting fishes , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[22]  Yang Zhao,et al.  Performance of Very Small Robotic Fish Equipped with CMOS Camera , 2015, Robotics.

[23]  G. Lauder,et al.  Passive propulsion in vortex wakes , 2006, Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

[24]  Tingyu Cheng,et al.  Fast-moving soft electronic fish , 2017, Science Advances.

[25]  Serge Kernbach,et al.  CoCoRo -- The Self-Aware Underwater Swarm , 2011, 2011 Fifth IEEE Conference on Self-Adaptive and Self-Organizing Systems Workshops.

[26]  Nicholas M. Patrikalakis,et al.  Propulsive Performance of an Underwater Soft Biomimetic Batoid Robot , 2014 .

[27]  Robert Bogue,et al.  Underwater robots: a review of technologies and applications , 2015, Ind. Robot.

[28]  J. J. Serrano,et al.  An Ultra-Low Power and Flexible Acoustic Modem Design to Develop Energy-Efficient Underwater Sensor Networks , 2012, Sensors.

[29]  Nikolaus Correll,et al.  Soft Autonomous Materials - Using Active Elasticity and Embedded Distributed Computation , 2010, ISER.

[30]  Marek Doniec,et al.  Autonomous, Localization-Free Underwater Data Muling Using Acoustic and Optical Communication , 2012, ISER.

[31]  Jamie M Anderson,et al.  Maneuvering and Stability Performance of a Robotic Tuna1 , 2002, Integrative and comparative biology.

[32]  R. C. Macridis.  A review , 1963 .

[33]  Koichi Suzumori,et al.  A Bending Pneumatic Rubber Actuator Realizing Soft-bodied Manta Swimming Robot , 2007, Proceedings 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[34]  Paolo Dario,et al.  A bioinspired autonomous swimming robot as a tool for studying goal-directed locomotion , 2013, Biological Cybernetics.

[35]  Andrew Hogue,et al.  AQUA: an aquatic walking robot , 2004, 2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37566).

[36]  F Mondada,et al.  Social Integration of Robots into Groups of Cockroaches to Control Self-Organized Choices , 2007, Science.

[37]  M. Nechyba,et al.  SubjuGator : A Highly Maneuverable , Intelligent Underwater Vehicle , 1999 .

[38]  C. Stefanini,et al.  Escape and surveillance asymmetries in locusts exposed to a Guinea fowl-mimicking robot predator , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[39]  Zhou Shengli,et al.  Prospects and problems of wireless communication for underwater sensor networks , 2008 .

[40]  Keisuke Oguro,et al.  A new type of underwater fish-like microrobot , 2000, Proceedings. 2000 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2000) (Cat. No.00CH37113).

[41]  Daniela Rus,et al.  A Recipe for Soft Fluidic Elastomer Robots , 2015, Soft robotics.

[42]  Daniela Rus,et al.  An End-to-End Signal Strength Model for Underwater Optical Communications , 2013, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering.

[43]  Russ E. Davis,et al.  Autonomous Buoyancy-Driven Underwater Gliders , 2002 .

[44]  Orhan Berktay,et al.  UNDERWATER ACOUSTICS AND SONAR , 1979 .

[45]  David A. Mann,et al.  Response of clupeid fish to ultrasound: a review , 2004 .

[46]  Alan M. Wilson,et al.  Locomotion dynamics of hunting in wild cheetahs , 2013, Nature.

[47]  Matteo Cianchetti,et al.  Soft robotics: Technologies and systems pushing the boundaries of robot abilities , 2016, Science Robotics.

[48]  M. Porfiri,et al.  A Robotics-Based Behavioral Paradigm to Measure Anxiety-Related Responses in Zebrafish , 2013, PloS one.

[49]  M. Porfiri,et al.  Fish and robot dancing together: bluefin killifish females respond differently to the courtship of a robot with varying color morphs , 2014, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[50]  Oceans,et al.  Oceans engineering for today's technology and tomorrow's preservation : proceedings , 1994 .

[51]  Philip Lacovara,et al.  High-Bandwidth Underwater Communications , 2008 .

[52]  Cecilia Laschi,et al.  An elastic pulsed-jet thruster for Soft Unmanned Underwater Vehicles , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[53]  Maurizio Porfiri,et al.  Fish and robots swimming together: attraction towards the robot demands biomimetic locomotion , 2012, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[54]  J. George.  Physical mechanisms to explain the observed features of ambient noise in shallow water , 1996 .

[55]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Printable hydraulics: A method for fabricating robots by 3D co-printing solids and liquids , 2015, 2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[56]  Nicole Abaid,et al.  Zebrafish responds differentially to a robotic fish of varying aspect ratio, tail beat frequency, noise, and color , 2012, Behavioural Brain Research.

[57]  K. Astr,et al.  Revisiting the Ziegler – Nichols step response method for PID control , 2004 .

[58]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Hydraulic Autonomous Soft Robotic Fish for 3D Swimming , 2014, ISER.

[59]  R. Rojas,et al.  Analysis of the Waggle Dance Motion of Honeybees for the Design of a Biomimetic Honeybee Robot , 2011, PloS one.

[60]  Milica Stojanovic,et al.  Underwater acoustic communication channels: Propagation models and statistical characterization , 2009, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[61]  J. Deneubourg,et al.  Interactive robots in experimental biology. , 2011, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[62]  Peter I. Corke,et al.  From Robots to Animals: Virtual Fences for Controlling Cattle , 2006, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[63]  Luz Abril Torres-Méndez,et al.  Ethologically inspired reactive exploration of coral reefs with collision avoidance: Bridging the gap between human and robot spatial understanding of unstructured environments , 2015, 2015 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).

[64]  K. Abhishek.  An Autonomous Robotic Fish for Mobile Sensing , 2014 .

[65]  Jonathan E. Clark,et al.  Fast and Robust: Hexapedal Robots via Shape Deposition Manufacturing , 2002 .

[66]  M. Sitti,et al.  Soft Actuators for Small‐Scale Robotics , 2017, Advanced materials.

[67]  Xianhui Che,et al.  Re-evaluation of RF electromagnetic communication in underwater sensor networks , 2010, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[68]  Sachit Butail,et al.  Fish–Robot Interactions: Robot Fish in Animal Behavioral Studies , 2015 .

[69]  Curt Schurgers,et al.  A swarm of autonomous miniature underwater robot drifters for exploring submesoscale ocean dynamics , 2017, Nature Communications.

[70]  J. A. Catipovic,et al.  The design and performance of a compact underwater acoustic network node , 1994, Proceedings of OCEANS'94.

[71]  Carrick Detweiler,et al.  AMOUR V: A Hovering Energy Efficient Underwater Robot Capable of Dynamic Payloads , 2010, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[72]  Maurizio Porfiri,et al.  Miniature Underwater Robotic Fish for Animal-Robot Interactions , 2016 .

[73]  Ian Gilhespy,et al.  DIVEBOT: A diving robot with a whale-like buoyancy mechanism , 2003, Robotica.

[74]  Peter I. Corke,et al.  Data collection, storage, and retrieval with an underwater sensor network , 2005, SenSys '05.

[75]  R. Shadwick,et al.  High-speed swimming: Enhanced power in yellowfin tuna , 2001, Nature.

[76]  K. Åström,et al.  Revisiting the Ziegler-Nichols step response method for PID control , 2004 .

[77]  Marco Bortolini,et al.  A review of technologies and applications for water purification in the food & beverage industry , 2017 .

[78]  Cecilia Laschi,et al.  Soft robotics: a bioinspired evolution in robotics. , 2013, Trends in biotechnology.

[79]  G. Goertzel.  An Algorithm for the Evaluation of Finite Trigonometric Series , 1958 .

[80]  Anirban Mazumdar,et al.  Maneuverability of a robotic tuna with compliant body , 2008, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[81]  Seung-Hwan Choi,et al.  Animal-Robot Interaction for pet caring , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Robotics and Automation - (CIRA).

[82]  Robert J. Wood,et al.  Pneumatic Energy Sources for Autonomous and Wearable Soft Robotics , 2014 .

[83]  Xiaobo Tan,et al.  Design and Modeling of Flexible Passive Rowing Joint for Robotic Fish Pectoral Fins , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[84]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Printable programmable viscoelastic materials for robots , 2016, 2016 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).

[85]  Lee Freitag,et al.  Integrated acoustic communication and navigation for multiple UUVs , 2001, MTS/IEEE Oceans 2001. An Ocean Odyssey. Conference Proceedings (IEEE Cat. No.01CH37295).

[86]  Dario Pompili,et al.  Underwater acoustic sensor networks: research challenges , 2005, Ad Hoc Networks.

[87]  S Mintchev,et al.  A novel autonomous, bioinspired swimming robot developed by neuroscientists and bioengineers , 2012, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[88]  B Mazzolai,et al.  An octopus-bioinspired solution to movement and manipulation for soft robots , 2011, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[89]  Kamal Youcef-Toumi,et al.  Design of Machines With Compliant Bodies for Biomimetic Locomotion in Liquid Environments , 2006 .

[90]  Oliver Brock,et al.  A compliant hand based on a novel pneumatic actuator , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[91]  Á. Miklósi,et al.  Potential application of autonomous and semi-autonomous robots in the study of animal behaviour , 2012, 2012 IEEE 3rd International Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom).

[92]  M. Porfiri,et al.  Zebrafish response to robotic fish: preference experiments on isolated individuals and small shoals , 2012, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[93]  Xiaobo Tan,et al.  An Autonomous Robotic Fish for Mobile Sensing , 2006, 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[94]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Autonomous Soft Robotic Fish Capable of Escape Maneuvers Using Fluidic Elastomer Actuators. , 2014, Soft robotics.

[95]  Atul Thakur,et al.  Fish-inspired robots: design, sensing, actuation, and autonomy—a review of research , 2016, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[96]  Francesco Mondada,et al.  Infiltrating the zebrafish swarm: design, implementation and experimental tests of a miniature robotic fish lure for fish–robot interaction studies , 2016, Artificial Life and Robotics.

[97]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Autonomous undulatory serpentine locomotion utilizing body dynamics of a fluidic soft robot , 2013, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[98]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Cyclic hydraulic actuation for soft robotic devices , 2016, 2016 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).

[99]  J. Cabral,et al.  Development of a 1 Mbps low power acoustic modem for underwater communications , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium.

[100]  D. Rus,et al.  Design, fabrication and control of soft robots , 2015, Nature.

[101]  G. Lauder,et al.  Dynamics of freely swimming flexible foils , 2011 .

[102]  Maurizio Porfiri,et al.  Zebrafish response to a robotic replica in three dimensions , 2016, Royal Society Open Science.