FILOSE for Svenning: A Flow Sensing Bioinspired Robot

TLDR

Biomimetic underwater robots are gaining traction as an alternative to propeller‑driven vehicles, with designers drawing on the evolution‑optimized locomotion of thousands of fish species to achieve energy‑efficient, highly maneuverable, agile, robust, and stable platforms. The launch of Boston Engineering’s commercial Ghostswimmer and subsequent field trials of fish‑robot prototypes demonstrate a significant maturation of the discipline after decades of laboratory work.

Abstract

The trend of biomimetic underwater robots has emerged as a search for an alternative to traditional propeller-driven underwater vehicles. The drive of this trend, as in any other areas of bioinspired and biomimetic robotics, is the belief that exploiting solutions that evolution has already optimized leads to more advanced technologies and devices. In underwater robotics, bioinspired design is expected to offer more energy-efficient, highly maneuverable, agile, robust, and stable underwater robots. The 30,000 fish species have inspired roboticists to mimic tuna [1], rays [2], boxfish [3], eels [4], and others. The development of the first commercialized fish robot Ghostswimmer by Boston Engineering and the development of fish robots for field trials with specific applications in mind (http://www.roboshoal. com) mark a new degree of maturity of this engineering discipline after decades of laboratory trials.