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The manta ray (Manta birostris) is the largest species of rays that demonstrates excellent swimming capabilities via large-amplitude flapping of its pectoral fins. In this article, we present a bio-inspired robotic manta ray using ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) as artificial muscles to mimic the swimming behavior of the manta ray. The robot utilizes two artificial pectoral fins to generate undulatory flapping motions, which produce thrust for the robot. Each pectoral fin consists of an IPMC muscle in the leading edge and a passive polydimethylsiloxane membrane in the trailing edge. When the IPMC is actuated, the passive polydimethylsiloxane membrane follows the bending of the leading edge with a phase delay, which leads to an undulatory flapping motion on the fin. Characterization of the pectoral fin has shown that the fin can generate flapping motions with up to 100% tip deflection and 40 • twist angle. To test the free-swimming performance of the robot, a light and compact on-board control unit with a lithium ion polymer battery has been developed. The experimental results have shown that the robot can swim at 0.067 BL/s with portable power consumption of under 2.5 W.

The cownose ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) demonstrates excellent swimming capabilities; generating highly efficient thrust via flapping of dorsally flattened pectoral fins. In this paper, we present a bio-inspired and free swimming robot that mimics the swimming behavior of the cownose ray. The robot has two artificial pectoral fins to generate thrust through a twisted flapping motion. Each artificial pectoral fin consists of one ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) as artificial muscle in the leading edge and a passive PDMS membrane in the trailing edge. By applying voltage signal to the IPMC, the passive PDMS membrane follows the bending of IPMC with a phase delay, which leads to a twist angle on the fin. The characterization results have shown that the pectoral fin was able to generate up to 40% tip deflection and 10° twist angle with less than 1 Watt power consumption. A bio-inspired rigid body was designed using Computerized Axial Tomography (CT Scan) data of the cownose ray body and printed using a 3-dimensional printer. A light and compact on-board control unit with a lithium ion polymer battery has been developed for the free swimming robot. Experimental results have shown that the robot swam at 0.034 BL/S.

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