Distributed Control for Bending Propulsion Mechanism in Water

Abstract

In this paper we describe the distributed controls for an ultra-multilink bending propulsion mechanism in water. Functions of the neural oscillator of an organism were programmed into each unit that consists of a controller and an actuator. The bending movement was generated by the cooperation of each unit. As an experiment of robustness, we assumed the case of a locked joint (no rotation). The bending movement was recovered using the cooperation of other joints. We discussed the influence of movement of the mechanism on thrust force.