Abstract
Fish robots are expected to be used in biological survey and so on. It is known that velocity and efficiency of fish robots propulsion are affected by rigidity of their fins. Fins have the ideal rigidity in each environment around robots and robots velocity. So it is necessary to change the fin's rigidity in driving of the fin to achieve high efficiency and speed of robots. In this study, we proposed a smart fin structure with SMA wire which enables to control its rigidity easily. We tried to control SMA's rigidity by detecting its electric resistivity and changing the applied voltage. Behavior of the fin which is affected by the rigidity change is measured experimentally. As a result, control of fin's rigidity is achieved, and the effects for the fm's behavior and forces are investigated.
