Design and Analysis of Adaptive Flipper With Origami Structure for Frog-Inspired Swimming Robot

Flippers are important components for improving the locomotion efficiency and stability of bionic underwater robots. A novel origami-based adaptive flipper is presented to address a lack of environmental adaptability and low performance efficiency due to the structural design or inherent characteristics of its main constituent materials. The design decision process and locomotion principle of the flipper are introduced in detail. It can exhibit better adaptive deformation under the action of hydrodynamics without affecting the propulsion efficiency. Kinematics and simulation analysis are performed to characterize the influence of structural parameters on the motion performance. Experimental swimming results show that compared with ordinary flippers, the locomotion efficiency is greatly improved with the help of origami flippers. The origami flipper also shows good adaptability when in contact with the external environment and overcomes the inability of open-close flippers to cross a 90° corner, which shows the rationality of the structural design and the feasibility of its application in underwater robots.