Design and fabrication of a robotic fish with flexible tail and controlling its movement using Fuzzy Logic Controller

In this paper design, fabrication and control of a robotic fish with flexible tail was presented. At first, the short introduction of the robotic fish and their common control algorithms were reviewed. At the next step, the proposed mechanism of the robotic fish and its design procedure of the mechanical and electrical subsystems were explained. Mimic of the proposed robot was inspired from the Rainbow trout. The mechanical structure of the robotic fish consists of a body and a flexible tail. Oscillatory actuation of the tail was carried out utilizing a servomotor which was manipulated by pulse width modulation signal. The electrical subsystem of the proposed robot containing the electrical boards, electronic circuits, and a microcontroller are installed on the Aluminum platform which is locating in a sealed case. The flexible tail is attached to the end-side of the sealed case, and the actuating force is transferred to the tail utilizing pulley and cable mechanism. Since the dynamics of the system under investigation is nonlinear, a fuzzy logic controller is proposed to control the movement of the robot for goal seeking purpose. The closed loop simulation of the system was carried using MATLAB software. In addition, experimental investigation of the robotic fish was performed in the laboratory.