DESIGNING AN UNDERWATER EEL-LIKE ROBOT AND DEVELOPING ANGUILLIFORM LOCOMOTION CONTROL NSF Summer Undergraduate Fellowship in Sensor Technologies

In this report, I investigate the design and development of an eellike amphibious robot. After reviewing research on dynamic mobile robots and control and motion planning for biomimetic robot systems, I analyzed the prototype created by Kenneth McIsaac and Jim Ostrowski and redesigned its key mechanical, electrical and communication components. The significant changes I implemented affected the number of links of the robot, its waterproof characteristics and the communication design (both hardware and software). I designed and manufactured the mechanical components using the state-of-the-art CAD/CAM facilities at the University of Pennsylvania and assembled and waterproofed the prototype at the GRASP laboratory. McIsaac and I made the necessary modifications to the openloop control of the robot and at the time of writing this report, the prototype seems to be functioning as expected. The closed loop control of the robot is still being developed at this time.