Design of a Robotic Cownose Ray

Nature often inspires advances in science and technology and a promising example of this is mimicking locomotion of underwater animals. The main ways in which manmade aquatic vehicles propel themselves are water jets and propellers, which are inconsistent with how underwater animals swim. The cownose ray displays very efficient thrust with low frequency strokes by using a combination of oscillations and undulations with its pectoral fins. The goal of this project is to mechanically replicate the actual fin motion of the cownose ray in order to capture these attractive features. The design will account for both the oscillations by designing a cabling mechanism that simulates muscle and the undulations by using a flexible shaft to control the twist present in the fin. Integrating these two mechanisms will achieve an accurate replica of the true fin motion.