Design and Analysis of a Novel and High-efficiency Axe-foot Part for Razor Clam Inspired Anchoring Robot

摘要

With the development and utilization of Marine resources growing faster and faster today, we need more new intelligent underwater exploration equipment which can integrate various functions such as burrowing and anchoring. Razor clam is an organism that burrows with low energy consumption and anchor itself firmly in the soil, which may be of great value in engineering applications. Therefore, this paper presents a design scheme of a bionic anchoring robot by imitating the structure and movement of razor clam. The main burrowing and anchoring functions of the robot are performed by the axe-foot part, the axe-foot part is the most important part of the robot, which consists of a set of blades and a hollow cylinder. The efficiency and reliability of the axe-foot part burrowing in the soil are proved by mechanical analysis and dynamic simulation. Finally, the prototype was put into the soil for experiments, and the relationship between burrowing time and burrowing depth was explored. Meanwhile, the anchoring force of the robot in the soil was measured. Through the above experiments, it is further verified that the axe-foot part can realize the function of efficient burrowing and firm anchoring.