A Horseshoe Crab Inspired Surf Zone Robot With Righting Capabilities

Abstract

In this paper, we present the design of RoboCrab, an amphibious robot capable of traversing moderate surf zone environments. By taking inspiration from the morphology, locomotion, and righting behaviors of a horseshoe crab, the robot is designed for traversal and righting on granular terrain, open water, and turbulent surf zones. We present the details of the crab’s morphology that informed the design of our robot. Next, we present the mechanical design, material selection, and manufacturing of the various parts of the robot. We report the results from the computational fluid dynamics simulations used to characterize the robot shell performance. Finally, we present demonstrations of the physical robot walking and righting in a granular environment.