System integration and fin trajectory Design for a robotic sea-turtle

This paper presents a novel underwater robot based on biological locomotion principle. A robotic platform imitating sea-turtle fin propulsion is described and tested. As fin locomotion is a novel and complex research area, basic control concepts are analyzed and implemented. Based on a simulation, a fin-trajectory morphing control strategy is developed in order to control the robots roll, pitch and yaw rates, thus allowing the robot to follow a given vector. Absolute position control or depth control, however, is not yet implemented. The paper concludes with the presentation of a working system that demonstrated motion capabilities in air as well as the first dive test in a swimming pool.