🐟 Fish robot

Last updated on Mar 1, 2025 Project

A fish robot as a robotic animal for understanding the biology of muscle activity for swimming locomotion

Table of Contents

Overview

Undulatory motion is how most fish swim, but it’s difficult to control and measure muscle activation in live fish. To address this, we created a fully soft robotic fish powered by opposing fast-PneuNet actuators and equipped with gallium–indium (eGaIn) strain sensors. A simple, data-driven model—tuned with experiments and a genetic algorithm—accurately predicts the robot’s motion across different frequencies and pressures, including co-contraction of the soft actuators. Using this model, we built an amplitude controller that regulates tail-beat in real time. This soft robotic platform offers a new way to study aquatic propulsion and undulatory movement control.