Swimming Robots using Robotic based on the Closed Elastica - Effect of Armed Catapult and realization of Impulsive Rotation

摘要

In this paper, we quantitatively evaluate the efficacy of the armed catapult based on the closed elastica which is the robotic element for generating impulsive motions repeatedly by utilizing the elastic energy of bended elastic material. The armed catapult is the key to achieve the high-performance swimming robot we developed. We also propose a swimming method to attain impulsive rotation without changing its mechanical structure.