Development of a Novel Robotic Dolphin and Its Application to Water Quality Monitoring

This paper presents the mechatronic design and hydrodynamic analysis of a novel bioinspired robotic dolphin used for mobile water quality monitoring. A complementary configuration for mimicry of dolphin-like propulsion is first presented, involving a waist-fluke propulsive unit for dorsoventral oscillations and a pair of flippers with separate degree of freedom for three-dimensional (3-D) maneuvers. A host of onboard sensors is equipped to...