This application claims priority to Taiwanese Patent Application No. 112139104, filed on Oct. 13, 2023, and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The disclosure relates to a biomimetic underwater robot, and more particularly to a biomimetic turtle with a driving module to float upward and dive downward in the water.
A variety of biomimetic underwater robots have been developed that emulate the shape of an animal and its swimming motion in the water. However, conventional biomimetic turtles have complicated construction in order to simulate a turtle swimming freely in the water, and are costly to manufacture.
Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a biomimetic turtle that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the disclosure, the biomimetic turtle includes a trunk, a head, two front limbs and a driving module. The head is connected with a front end of the trunk in a front-rear direction, and is movable relative to the trunk in the front-rear direction. The two front limbs are disposed on a front section of the trunk and extend therefrom in a left-right direction away from each other. Each of the front limbs is rotatable relative to the trunk about a front rotating axis to sway in an up-down direction. Each of the front limbs has a curve-shaped rigid portion which defines a front contour of the front limb and which has a recess that is opened rearwardly, and a deformable flipper portion which is engaged in the recess and which extends rearwardly from the rigid portion. The driving module is mounted on the trunk to drive movement of the head and rotation of the front limbs.
With the deformable flipper portion deformed and bent during swaying of the front limbs in the up-down direction, a forward propelling force is generated to propel the biomimetic turtle forwardly. Also, with the head operably movable relative to the trunk in the front-rear direction, the center of gravity of the biomimetic turtle 100 (or the position of generated buoyant force) can be varied in the water, and thus the front portion of the biomimetic turtle is hence inclined upwardly or downwardly to facilitate ascending or descending of the biomimetic turtle. The biomimetic turtle has a simple structure and can swim freely in the water.
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that various features may not be drawn to scale.
It should be noted herein that for clarity of description, spatially relative terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “on,” “above,” “over,” “downwardly,” “upwardly” and the like may be used throughout the disclosure while making reference to the features as illustrated in the drawings. The features may be oriented differently (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative terms used herein may be interpreted accordingly.
Referring to
The trunk 1 has a fixed stem 11 which extends forwardly from a front section thereof in a front-rear direction (D1), and a guide rail 12 formed on a bottom portion thereof and extending in the front-rear direction (D1). The bottom cover 2 is disposed to cover the bottom portion of the trunk 1 to conceal the guide rail 12.
The head 3 is slidably sleeved around the fixed stem 11 to be movable relative to the trunk 1 in the front-rear direction (D1). The head 3 is hollow, and is provided with a plurality of high-density weight blocks 31 (with a density larger than water) disposed therein to regulate weight of the head 3. For example, the high-density weight blocks 31 may be lead blocks. Specifically, the head 3 is movable relative to the trunk 1 between a front position which is remote from a rear section of the trunk 1, and a rear position which is proximal to the rear section of the trunk 1. Also, the head 3 is movable relative to the trunk 1 to a front transition position and a rear transition position during movement from the front position to the rear position. Through the movement of the head 3 in the front-rear direction (D1), the center of gravity of the biomimetic turtle 100 can be varied in the water. In a modified embodiment, a plurality of low-density weight blocks (not shown) may be disposed in the head 3, such as Styrofoam material blocks, so as to generate a buoyant force in the water and adjust the center of gravity of the biomimetic turtle 100 in the water.
The two front limbs 4 are disposed on a front section of the trunk 1 and extend therefrom in a left-right direction (D2) away from each other. Each front limb 4 is rotatable relative to the trunk 1 about a front rotating axis (A1) that is parallel to the front-rear direction (D1) so as to sway in an up-down direction (D3). Specifically, each front limb 4 has an axle portion 41 which is rotatable relative to the trunk 1 about the front rotating axis (A1), a curve-shaped rigid portion 42 which extends from the axle portion 41 in the left-right direction (D2) to define a front contour of the front limb 4 and which has a recess 421 that is opened rearwardly, and a deformable flipper portion 43 which is engaged in the recess 421 and which extends rearwardly from the rigid portion 42. Specifically, the rigid portion 42 is made of a rigid plastic material, and the deformable flipper portion 43 is made of a silicone rubber or other flexible materials.
With reference to
The two rear limbs 5 are pivotably connected with the rear section of the
trunk 1 and extend rearwardly. Each rear limb 5 has an axle section 51 which is journalled on the trunk 1 to be rotatable relative to the trunk 1 about a rear rotating axis (A2) that is parallel to the left-right direction (D2), and a hind flipper section 52 which extends rearwardly from the axle section 51. The axle section 51 has a protrusion 511 protruding downwardly therefrom.
The driving module 6 is mounted on the trunk 1, and includes a driving unit 61 to drive the movement of the head 3 and the rotations of the front limbs 4, and a transmitting mechanism 62 which interconnects the head 3 and each rear limb 5 to transmit a force from the head 3 to move the rear limbs 5 relative to the trunk 1. The driving unit 61 may include a first servomotor 611 for driving the movement of the head 3, a pinion 612 mounted on the first servomotor 611, and two second servomotors 613 for respectively driving the rotations of the front limbs 4. Specifically, the two front limbs 4 are respectively driven by the two second servomotors 613 so as to be rotated independently from each other. Thus, the two front limbs 4 can sway with different speeds so as to permit the biomimetic turtle to steer and change directions during an advancing movement thereof.
The transmitting mechanism 62 includes a crosspiece 621 which extends in the left-right direction (D2) to interconnect the protrusions 511 of the rear limbs 5, a rear sliding rod 622 which has a rear end connected with the crosspiece 621 and which is slidable along and engaged with the guide rail 12 in the front-rear direction (D1), and a front sliding rod 623 which has a front end connected with the head 3, which is disposed forwardly of the rear sliding rod 622 and which is slidable along and engaged with the guide rail 12 in the front-rear direction (D1). The front sliding rod 623 is disposed to move the rear sliding rod 622 in the front-rear direction (D1) so as to transmit a force from the head 3 to move the rear limbs 5. Specifically, the rear sliding rod 622 has a rear rod portion (622a) connected with the crosspiece 621, and a rear anchoring portion (622b) extending forwardly from the rear rod portion (622a). The front sliding rod 623 has a front rod portion (623a) connected with the head 3 at a front end thereof, a front anchoring portion (623b) extending rearwardly from the front rod portion (623a), and a rack portion (623c) formed on a side of the front rod portion (623a). In this embodiment, the rack portion (623c) meshes with the pinion 612 so as to drive the movement of the head 3 in the front-rear direction (D1) by the first servomotor 611.
With reference to
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As illustrated, with the deformable flipper portion 43 deformed and bent during swaying of the front limbs 4 in the up-down direction (D3), a forward propelling force is generated to propel the biomimetic turtle 100 forwardly. Also, with the head 3 operably movable relative to the trunk 1 in the front-rear direction (D1), the center of gravity of the biomimetic turtle 100 (or the position of generated buoyant force) can be varied in the water, and thus the front portion of the biomimetic turtle 100 is hence inclined upwardly or downwardly to facilitate ascending or descending of the biomimetic turtle 100. The biomimetic turtle 100 has a simple structure and can swim freely in the water.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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112139104 | Oct 2023 | TW | national |