Design and Mechanical Property of a Biomimetic Pulsatile Jet Propeller Inspired by Cuttlefish Actuated by SMA Wires

An experimental biomimetic pulsatile jet propeller for robot cuttlefish is presented. Firstly the mechanism of jet swimming of cuttlefish and their mantle muscle structure was analyzed. Secondly the pulsatile jet propeller which is actuated by SMA wires was designed. Then the mechanical properties of the propeller were tested through experiment. The experimental result shows that the propeller can generate thrust force and the maximum thrust force can reach 600 mN. At last, the swimming experiments are carried out and the maximum swimming speed is 8.7 cm/s.