Abstract
In this paper, we propose a motion planning method of mechanical underwater fins based on time-scale transformation. In order to generate a desired thrust, the proposed method provides a quasi-optimal motion and the feedforward control input of a fin. It is easy to implement the proposed method presented here because it doesn't need a computational fluid dynamics approach or estimation of any physical parameters such as added-mass, drag and lift coefficients. As a first step, in this paper, a preliminary experiment in a test tank is conducted by using a 1 degree-of-freedom (DOF) mechanical fin.
