An Efficient Optimization Design Framework for Low-Resistance Shape of Bionic Amphibious Robot

To realize the low-resistance shape optimization design of amphibious robots,an efficient optimization design framework is proposed to improve the geometric deformation flexibility and optimization efficiency.In the proposed framework,the free-form deformation parametric model of the flat slender body is established and an analytical calculation method for the height constraints is derived.CFD method is introduced to carry out the high-precision resistance calculation and a constrained Kriging-based optimization method is built to improve the optimization efficiency by circularly infilling the new sample points which satisfying the constraints.Finally,the shape of an amphibious robot example is optimized to get the low-resistance shape and the results demonstrate that the presented optimization design framework has the advantages of simplicity,flexibility and high efficiency.

Optimization of Center of Gravity Position and Anti-Wave Plate Angle of Amphibious Unmanned Vehicle Based on Orthogonal Experimental Method

When the amphibious vehicle navigates in water,the angle of the anti-wave plate and the position of the center of gravity greatly influence the navigation characteristics.In the relevant research on reducing the navigation resistance of amphibious vehicles by adjusting the angle of the anti-wave plate,there is a lack of scientific selection of parameters and reasonable research of simulation results by using mathematical methods,and the influence of the center of gravity position on navigation characteristics is not considered at the same time.To study the influence of the combinations of the angle of the anti-wave plate and the position of the center of gravity on the resistance reduction characteristics,a numerical calculation model of the amphibious unmanned vehicle was established by using the theory of computational fluid dynamics,and the experimental data verified the correctness of the numerical model.Based on this numerical model,the navigation characteristics of the amphibious unmanned vehicle were studied when the center of gravity was located at different positions,and the orthogonal experimental design method was used to optimize the parameters of the angle of the anti-wave plate and the position of the center of gravity.The results show that through the parameter optimization analysis based on the orthogonal experimental method,the combination of the optimal angle of the anti-wave plate and the position of the center of gravity is obtained.And the numerical simulation result of resistance is consistent with the predicted optimal solution.Compared with the maximum navigational resistance,the parameter optimization reduces the navigational resistance of the amphibious unmanned vehicle by 24%.

Preparation and Conducting Behavior of Amphibious Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Proton Exchange Membranes Based on Benzyltetrazole

A series of novel amphibious organic/inorganic hybrid proton exchange membranes with H3PO4 doped which could be used under both wet and dry conditions was prepared through a sol-gel process based on acrylated triethoxysilane（A-TES） and benzyltetrazole-modified triethoxysilane（BT-TES）.The dual-curing approach including UV-curing and thermal curing was used to obtain the crosslinked membranes.Polyethylene glycol（400） diacrylate（PEGDA） was used as an oligomer to form the polymeric matrix.The molecular structures of precursors were characterized by 1 H,13 C and 29 Si NMR spectra.The thermogravimetric analysis（TGA） results show that the membranes exhibit acceptable thermal stability for their application at above 200 oC.The differential scanning calorimeter（DSC） determination indicates that the crosslinked membranes with the mass ratios of below 1.6 of BT-TES to A-TES and the same mass of H3PO4 doped as that of A-TES possess the-T g s,and the lowest T g（-28.9 ℃） exists for the membrane with double mass of H3PO4 doped as well.The high proton conductivity in a range of 9.4―17.3 mS/cm with the corresponding water uptake of 19.1%―32.8% of the membranes was detected at 90 oC under wet conditions.Meanwhile,the proton conductivity in a dry environment for the membrane with a mass ratio of 2.4 of BT-TES to A-TES and double H3PO4 loading increases from 4.89×10-2 mS/cm at 30 ℃ to 25.7 mS/cm at 140 ℃.The excellent proton transport ability under both hydrous and anhydrous conditions demonstrates a potential application in the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

3D interlocked all-textile structured triboelectric pressure sensor for accurately measuring epidermal pulse waves in amphibious environments

The performance degradation and even damage of the e-textiles caused by sweat,water,or submersion during all-weather health monitoring are the main reasons that e-textiles have not been commercialized and routinized so far.Herein,we developed an amphibious,high-performance,air-permeable,and comfortable all-textile triboelectric sensor for continuous and precise measurement of epidermal pulse waves during full-day activities.Based on the principle of preparing gas by acid-base neutralization reaction,a one-piece preparation process of amphibious conductive yarn(ACY)with densely porous structures is proposed.An innovative three-dimensional(3D)interlocking fabric knitted from ACYs(0.6 mm in diameter)and polytetrafluoroethylene yarns exhibit high sensitivity(0.433 V·kPa^(-1)),wide bandwidth(up to 10 Hz),and stability(>30,000 cycles).With these benefits,98.8%agreement was achieved between wrist pulse waves acquired by the sensor and a high-precision laser vibrometer.Furthermore,the polytetrafluoroethylene yarn with good compression resilience provides sufficient mechanical support for the contact separation of the ACYs.Meanwhile,the unique skeletonized design of the 3D interlocking structure can effectively relieve the water pressure on the sensor surface to obtain stable and accurate pulse waves(underwater depth of 5 cm).This achievement represents an important step in improving the practicality of e-textiles and early diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases.

Highly durable machine-learned waterproof electronic glove based on low-cost thermal transfer printing for amphibious wearable applications

Gesture recording,modeling,and understanding based on a robust electronic glove(E-glove)are of great significance for efficient human-machine cooperation in harsh environments.However,such robust edge-intelligence interfaces remain challenging as existing E-gloves are limited in terms of integration,waterproofness,scalability,and interface stability between different components.Here,we report on the design,manufacturing,and application scenarios for a waterproof E-glove,which is of low cost,lightweight,and scalable for mass production,as well as environmental robustness,waterproofness,and washability.An improved neural network architecture is proposed to implement environment-adaptive learning and inference for hand gestures,which achieves an amphibious recognition accuracy of 100%in 26 categories by analyzing 2,600 hand gesture patterns.We demonstrate that the E-glove can be used for amphibious remote vehicle navigation via hand gestures,potentially opening the way for efficient human-human and human-machine cooperation in harsh environments.

Design and Mechanics of a Composite Wave-driven Soft Robotic Fin for Biomimetic Amphibious Robot

Bionic amphibious robots have important prospects in scientific, commercial, and military fields. Compared with traditional amphibious robots which use propellers/jets for aquatic medium and wheels/tracks for terrestrial medium, bionic propulsion method has great advantages in terms of manoeuvrability, efficiency, and reliability, because there is no need to switch between different propulsion systems. To explore the integrated driving technology of amphibious robot, a novel bio-inspired soft robotic fin for amphibious use is proposed in this paper. The bionic fin can swim underwater and walk on land by the same undulating motion. To balance the conflicting demands of flexibility underwater and rigidity on land, the undulating fin adopts a special combination of a membrane fin and a bending spring. A periodic longitudinal wave in horizontal direction has been found generating passively in dynamic analysis. To find the composite wave-driven mechanics, theoretical analysis is conducted based on the walking model and swimming model. A virtual prototype is built in ADAMS software to verify the walking mechanics. The simulation result reveals that the passive longitudinal wave is also periodical and the composite wave contributes to land walking. Finally, an amphibious robot prototype actuated by a pair of undulating fins has been developed. The experiments show that the robot can achieve multiple locomotion, including walking forward/backward, turning in place, swimming underwater, and crossing medium, thus giving evidence to the feasibility of the newly designed undulating fin for amphibious robot.

A multi-objective optimization problem research for amphibious operational mission of shipboard helicopters

Airborne landing with shipboard helicopters gradually replaces surface landing to dominate joint amphibious operations.A problem with shipboard helicopter mission planning is conducted in the context of amphibious operations.First,the typical missions of shipborne helicopters in amphibious operations are analyzed.An Amphibious Operational Mission Planning Model for Shipboard Helicopters(AOMPMSH)is established,with the objectives of minimizing the completion time of the amphibious campaign and minimizing troop and helicopter losses,taking the available operational resources and the order of the mission sub-phases into account.Then,a simulationbased amphibious operations effectiveness assessment model is constructed to calculate the optimization objectives of AOMPMSH by simulating the campaign development with an amphibious objective area situation transfer model and simulating the engagement process with a modified Lanchester model.A reference point based multi-objective optimization algorithm is designed to solve the proposed AOMPMSH.The population iteration mechanism employs an initial population generation method and a local search method to solve the problem of vast definition space.The population ranking selection mechanism employs a population distribution based reference point generation method to solve the problem of population irregular distribution.Finally,a simulation case with the background of a battalion-scaled amphibious campaign is presented.The calculation results verify the rationality of the proposed model and the superiority of the designed algorithm and have some reference value for the operational applications of shipboard helicopters in amphibious operations.

Initial Development of a Novel Amphibious Robot with Transformable Fin-Leg Composite Propulsion Mechanisms

Amphibious robots are very attractive for their broad applications in resource exploration, disaster rescue, and recon- naissance. However, it is very challenging to develop the robots for their complex, amphibious working environments. In the complex amphibious environment, amphibious robots should possess multi-capabilities to walk on rough ground, maneuver underwater, and pass through transitional zones such as sandy and muddy terrain. These capabilities require a high-performance propulsion mechanism for the robots. To tackle a complex task, a novel amphibious robot （AmphiHex-I） with,transformable fin-leg composite propulsion mechanisms is developed. With the fin-leg composite propulsions, AmphiHex-I can walk on rough and soft substrates and swim in water with many maneuvers. This paper presents the structural design of the transformable fin-leg propulsion mechanism and its driving module. A hybrid model is used to explore the dynamics between the trans- formable legs and transitional environment such as granular medium. The locomotion performances of legs with various ellip- tical shapes are analyzed, which is verified by the coincidence between the model predictions and the simulation results. Further, an orthogonal experiment is conducted to study the locomotion performance of a two-legged platform walking with an asyn- chronous gait in the sandy and muddy terrain. Finally, initial experiments of AmphiHex-I walking on various lands and swimming in water are implemented. These results verify that the transformable fin-leg mechanisms enable the amphibious robot to pass through a complex, amphibious working environment.

Development of an Amphibious Turtle-Inspired Spherical Mother Robot

Robots play an important role in underwater monitoring and recovery operations, such as pollution detection, submarine sampling and data collection, video mapping, and object recovery in dangerous places. However, regular-sized robots may not be suitable for applications in some restricted underwater environments. Accordingly, in previous research we designed several novel types of bio-inspired microrobots using Ionic Polymer Metal Composite （IPMC） and Shape Memory Alloy （SMA） ac- tuators. These microrobots possess some attributes of compact structure, multi-functionality, flexibility, and precise positioning. However, they lack the attributes of long endurance, stable high speed, and large load capacity necessary for real-world appli- cations. To overcome these disadvantages, we proposed a mother-son robot system, composed of several microrobots as sons and a newly designed amphibious spherical robot as the mother. Inspired by amphibious turtles, the mother robot was designed with a spherical body and four legs with two Degrees of Freedom （DOF）. It is actuated by four vectored water-jet propellers and ten servomotors, and it is capable of walking on land and cruising underwater. We analysed the mother robot＇s walking and underwater cruising mechanisms, constructed a prototype, and carried out a series of experiments to evaluate its amphibious motions. Good motion performance was observed in the experiments.

Hexapedal Robotic Platform for Amphibious Locomotion on Ground and Water Surface

Bio-inspiration is a starting point from which to design engineering products by learning the secrets of living creatures. We present the design, analysis, and experimental results of a robotic platform inspired by the basilisk lizard, which is well known for its ability to run on water surface. The goal is to develop a robotic platform for amphibious locomotion on ground and water using a single configuration. A tripod gait is achieved with a hexapedal configuration and four-bar-based repeated motion of the legs. The hexapedal configuration is empirically proven to have an advantage in terms of rolling stability on water. On ground, the tripod gait can satisfy the requirements of static stability to make the center of gravity and center of pressure occur at the same position. The footpad design was determined based on an empirical study of the rolling stability and lifting force. The theoretical background and experimental results are presented to validate the ability of the proposed design to run on water and on the ground.

Water takeoff performance calculation method for amphibious aircraft based on digital virtual flight

Owing to the strong coupling among the hydrodynamic forces,aerodynamic forces and motion of amphibious aircraft during the water takeoff process,the water takeoff performance is difficult to calculate accurately and quickly.Based on an analysis of the dynamics and kinematics characteristics of amphibious aircraft and the hydrodynamic theory of high-speed planing hulls,a suitable mathematical model is established for calculating the hydrodynamics of aircraft during water takeoff.A pilot model is designed to illustrate how pilots are affected by the lack of visual reference and the necessity to simultaneously control the pitch angle,flight velocity and other parameters during water takeoff.Combined with the aerodynamic model,engine thrust model and aircraft motion model,a digital virtual flight simulation model is developed for amphibious aircraft during water takeoff,and a calculation method for the water takeoff performance of amphibious aircraft is proposed based on digital virtual flight.Typical performance indicators,such as the liftoff time and liftoff distance,can be obtained via digital virtual flight calculations.A comparison of the measured flight test data and the calculation results shows that the calculation error is less than 10%,which verifies the correctness and accuracy of the proposed method.This method can be used for the preliminary evaluation of airworthiness compliance of amphibious aircraft design schemes,and the relevant calculation results can also provide a theoretical reference for the formulation of flight test plans for airworthiness certification.

Locomotion Performance of the Amphibious Robot on Various Terrains and Underwater with Flexible Flipper Legs

Amphibious robots are attracting more and more attentions from researchers worldwide tbr their broad appllcanons m resource exploration, disaster rescue, and reconnaissance. Amphibious robot with transformable flipper-leg composite propul- sion mechanisms can adapt various terrestrial and water environments. In this paper, we explored the locomotion performance of a amphibious robot with flexible flipper legs on various terrains and underwater through dynamical simulation. The influence of the stiffness of the flipper legs on the locomotion performance in various environments was investigated comprehensively. The results indicate that the locomotion with flexible flipper legs is very stable, and the stiffness of the flipper legs has a great impact on the locomotion performance. The verification experiments demonstrate the accuracy of the simulation results. The study facilitates the design of the amphibious robot and indicates that the passively transformable flipper-leg mechanisms also enable amphibious robot to conquer various complex terrestrial environments.

Development of amphibious biomimetic robots

Amphibious robots are becoming increasingly important for civilian,scientific,and environmental missions.They are widely used in disaster rescue,ecosystem monitoring,and entertainment.However,some have two different locomotion systems that need to be changed manually to fulfill both swimming in the water and moving on land,which may reduce their efficiency and reliability.Applying bioinspiration and biomimetics,many recently developed amphibious robots can undertake various tasks in complex amphibious environments with high mobility,flexibility,and energy efficiency.This review overviews the latest developments in amphibious robots,emphasizing biomimetic design concepts,backbone driving mechanisms,and typical applications.The performance indices of amphibious robots mimicking 13 different natural sources are compared,based on 10 different propulsion principles/modes,travel speed,working efficiency,maneuverability,and stability.Finally,the current challenges and perspectives of amphibious bio-inspired robots are discussed.This article summarizes the current types of amphibious robots and their movement and behavior solutions.The design concepts and operating mechanisms of amphibious robots reviewed here can be readily applied to other robotic studies.

Effects of salinity and clonal integration on the amphibious plant Paspalum paspaloides:growth,photosynthesis and tissue ion regulation

Aims Clonal integration can increase performance of clonal plants suffer-ing from environmental stress,and clonal plants in many wetlands commonly face stress of flooding accompanied by salinity.However,few studies have tested roles of clonal integration in amphibious plants expanding from terrestrial to aquatic saline habitats.Methods Basal(older)ramets of clonal fragments of Paspalum paspaloides were grown in soil to simulate terrestrial habitats,whereas their apical(younger)ramets were placed at the surface of saline water containing 0,50,150 and 250 mmol l^(−1)NaCl to mimic different salinity levels in aquatic habitats.Stolons connecting the apical and basal ramets were either intact(connected)to allow clonal integra-tion or severed(disconnected)to prevent integration.Important Findings Increasing salinity level significantly decreased the growth of the apical ramets of P.paspaloides,and such effects on the leaf growth were much higher without than with stolon connection after 60-day treatment.Meanwhile,leaf and total mass ratios of the connected to the disconnected apical ramets were higher at high than at low saline treatments.Correspondingly,Fv/Fm and F/Fm′of the apical ramets were higher with than without stolon connection in highly saline treatments.The results suggest that clonal integration can benefit the spread of apical ramets from terrestrial soil into saline water,and that the positive effects increase with increasing salinity.However,clonal integration did not significantly affect the growth of the whole frag-ments.Due to clonal integration,Na^(+)could be translocated from the apical to the basal ramets to alleviate ion toxicity in apical ramets.Our results suggest that clonal integration benefits the expansion of P.paspaloides from terrestrial to aquatic saline habitats via maintained photosynthetic capacities and changed biomass allocation pattern.

Dynamic Modeling and Hybrid Fireworks Algorithm-Based Path Planning of an Amphibious Robot

The task of path planning in amphibious environments requires additional consideration due to the complexity of the amphibious environments.This paper presents a path planning method for an amphibious robot named\AmphiRobot"with its dynamic constraints considered.First,an explicit dynamic model using Kane's method is presented.The hydrodynamic parameters are obtained through computational°uid dynamics simulations.Furthermore,a path planning method based on a hybrid¯reworks algorithm is proposed,combining the¯reworks algorithm and bare bones¯reworks algorithm,aiming at the amphibious robot's characteristics of multiple motion modes and working environments.The initially planned path is then smoothed using Dubins path under constraints determined by the dynamic model.Simulation reveals that the performance of the hybrid¯reworks algorithm approach is better than the¯reworks algorithm and bare bones¯reworks algorithm is applied separately in the amphibious environment scenarios.

Research on Architecture Design with High Reliability of Network Nodes in the Amphibious Combating Simulation System

Upper-lower computer mode is the main architecture design of the amphibious combat simulation system(ACSS)at present.Through continuous improvement of real-time performance,software and hardware infrastructure,the exponential growth of operational network data scale is realized,but the availability performance of ACSS declines.The reliability of the working host as the key node has become the bottleneck of the overall availability of network nodes in the ACSS.To optimize the network node architecture of ACSS,this paper presents an effective optimization solution by designing the dual redundancy warm-standby module of the mission computer and I/O port,the algorithm of selecting output path of the mission computer in network nodes,the decision-making algorithm upon the on-duty host and output,and the video output decision-making algorithm upon the upper host.Lastly,the complete process of operational data from the input to output and the opposite is implemented well to guarantee the overall availability of network nodes in the ACSS.It has great advantages of wide applicability,strong reliability and high real-time switching speed.

Study on Decentralization of Spherical Amphibious Multi-robot Control System Based on Smart Contract and Blockchain

With the development of intelligent bionic robots and the improvement of military application,a single robot cannot meet the requirements of the tasks of the current era.The more complex tasks require not only that the robot be able to pass through the field barriers and the amphibious environment,but also that the robot be able to collaborate in a multi-robot system.Consequently,research on the multi-robot control system of spherical amphibious robots is very important.Presently,the main research on amphibious robots is to improve the functions of a single robot,in the absence of the study of the multi-robot control system.Existing systems primarily use a centralized control methodology.Although the transfer of central node can be achieved,there is still a problem of Byzantine fault tolerance in military applications,that is,when the amphibious multi-robot system is invaded by the enemy.The central node may not only fail to accomplish the task,but also lose control of other robots,with severe consequences.To solve the above problems,this paper proposed a decentralized method of spherical amphibious multi-robot control system based on blockchain technology.First,the point-to-point information network based on long range radio technology of low power wide area network was set up,we designed the blockchain system for embedded application environment and the decentralized hardware and software architecture of multi-robot control system.On this basis,the consensus plugin,smart contract and decentralized multi-robot control algorithm were designed to achieve decentralization.The experimental results of consensus of spherical amphibious multi-robot showed the effectiveness of the decentralization.

An Amphibious Vehicle Modeling and Maneuvering Path Planning Method Suitable for Military Topographic Maps

Path planning of amphibious vehicles on military topographic maps is a hot research topic in the field of amphibious tactical training simulation.According to the dynamic characteristics and maneuvering destination requirements of amphibious vehicles,a three-dimensional simulation model of amphibious vehicles is designed,and a straight-line driving and steering dynamic model is constructed.The optimal maneuvering destination and constraint conditions under the condition of unconnected graph are put forward,and the problems of simulation and maneuvering path planning of amphibious vehicles on unconnected graph are solved by the theory of region partition and shortest path of graph.Compared with Dijkstra algorithm and heuristic algorithm A~*,the experimental results show that the algorithm designed in this paper has superior applicability and time performance.

Design, Implementation and Control of an Amphibious Spherical Robot

We proposed and implemented a leg-vector water-jet actuated spherical robot and an underwater adaptive motion control system so that the proposed robot could perform exploration tasks in complex environments.Our aim was to improve the kinematic performance of spherical robots.We developed mechanical and dynamic models so that we could analyze the motions of the robot on land and in water.The robot was equipped with an Inertial Measurement Unit(IMU)that provided inclination and motion information.We designed three types of walking gait for the robot,with different stabilities and speeds.Furthermore,we proposed an online adjustment mechanism to adjust the gaits so that the robot could climb up slopes in a stable manner.As the system function changed continuously as the robot moved underwater,we implemented an online motion recognition system with a forgetting factor least squares algorithm.We proposed a generalized prediction control algorithm to achieve robust underwater motion control.To ensure real-time performance and reduce power consumption,the robot motion control system was implemented on a Zynq-7000 System-on-Chip(SoC).Our experimental results show that the robot’s motion remains stable at different speeds in a variety of amphibious environments,which meets the requirements for applications in a range of terrains.

A Hybrid Territorial Aquatic Bionic Soft Robot with Controllable Transition Capability

In this paper,a bionic mantis shrimp amphibious soft robot based on a dielectric elastomer is proposed to realize highly adaptive underwater multimodal motion.Under the action of an independent actuator,it is not only able to complete forward/backwards motion on land but also has the ability of cyclically controllable transition motion from land to water surface,from water surface to water bottom and from water bottom to land.The fastest speed of the soft robot on land is 170 mm/s,and it can crawl while carrying up to 4.6 times its own weight.The maximum speeds on the water surface and the water bottom are 30 mm/s and 14.4 mm/s,respectively.Furthermore,the soft robot can climb from the water bottom with a 9°slope transition to land.Compared with other similar soft robots,this soft robot has outstanding advantages,such as agile speed,large load-carrying capacity,strong body flexibility,multiple motion modes and strong underwater adaptability.Finally,nonlinear motion models of land crawling and water swimming are proposed to improve the environmental adaptability under multiple modalities,and the correctness of the theoretical model is verified by experiments.