Bionic Design and Simulation of Flexible Pectoral Fin of Labriform Fish

Labriform Mode is an important maneuvering motion mode of teleost fish. The new propulsor, whose inspiration is from labriform mode, has arisen increasing attention. However, the research on its bionic design and propulsion mechanism is still insufficient. To improve the performance of labriform bionic pectoral fin, the under-actuated technology was utilized to design a new flexible bionic pectoral fin based on the skeleton structure and neuromuscular control mechanism of fish pectoral fin. The kinematic and dynamic models of the bionic pectoral fin were established and Matlab was used to perform the simulation analysis of its performance. The simulation result indicates that the new flexible bionic pectoral fin and its kinematic and dynamic models are reasonable and effective. The bionic pectoral fin can reduce the number of driving devices as well as the complexity of the bionic system. Therefore, the research presented in this paper provides foundation for the further study of propulsion mechanism of fish pectoral fin and the design of new underwater propulsor.