Bionic flapping wing underwater vehicle cooperatively driven by wing bow and stern

Abstract

The invention discloses a bionic flapping wing underwater vehicle cooperatively driven by a wing bow and a wing stern, and belongs to the technical field of bionic underwater vehicles. The aircraft adopts a modular cabin section design and comprises a movable bow cabin section, a buoyancy adjusting cabin section, a bionic flapping wing driving cabin section, a pitch attitude adjusting cabin section and a movable stern cabin section. The technical problem that high maneuverability and low energy consumption of a traditional underwater vehicle are difficult to consider at the same time is solved through organic combination of cooperative deflection of the movable bow and the movable stern, multi-degree-of-freedom motion of the flapping wings and buoyancy adjustment. According to the invention, a plurality of motion modes such as flapping wing propulsion, buoyancy gliding and sliding-flapping mixing can be realized, complex motion capabilities such as fixed-depth direct navigation, rapid steering, spiral steering and zigzag gliding are realized, the maneuverability, the energy consumption efficiency and the environmental adaptability are remarkably improved, and an innovative solution is provided for marine observation and detection tasks.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of underwater vehicle technology, and particularly relates to a biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with coordinated wing-bow-stern drive. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of fields such as marine resource exploration, environmental monitoring, and national defense security, higher requirements are being placed on the comprehensive performance of underwater vehicles. Traditional underwater vehicles mainly rely on two mainstream technological paths: propeller propulsion or buoyancy-driven propulsion. Among them, propeller-driven autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have the advantage of high speed, but energy consumption increases significantly at high speeds, and maneuverability is poor at low speeds; while underwater gliders based on buoyancy-adjustable propulsion are known for their excellent endurance and extremely low energy consumption, but generally suffer from inherent limitations such as poor maneuverability, limited movement modes, and difficulty in coping with complex marine environments.

[0003] Both existing propulsion methods have significant shortcomings, making it difficult to achieve a balance between high maneuverability, low energy consumption, and strong environmental adaptability on a single platform. Specifically, propeller-driven vehicles, due to their rigid structure and propulsion principle limitations, are inefficient and noisy during maneuvers such as turning and hovering. While underwater gliders can achieve long-endurance operations, their slow turning speed makes them unsuitable for rapid evasion or fine-scale area reconnaissance. Although some research has attempted to draw inspiration from the efficient propulsion mechanisms of marine organisms, such as mimicking the tail-wagging motion of fish or the flapping wing motion of rays, most designs are still limited to replicating a single biomimetic propulsion mode, failing to organically integrate the high maneuverability of flapping wing propulsion with the low energy consumption characteristics of underwater gliders. Furthermore, existing biomimetic vehicles lack sufficient research on multi-degree-of-freedom cooperative control in areas such as the bow and stern, resulting in limited overall motion attitude adjustment capabilities and poor environmental adaptability. Therefore, developing a novel propulsion method and cooperative control mechanism that can meet multiple performance requirements has become an urgent technical challenge to be solved in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the problems of traditional underwater vehicles in the prior art being unable to simultaneously achieve high maneuverability, low energy consumption, and strong environmental adaptability, as well as the lack of motion modes and insufficient collaborative control capabilities due to the difficulty in organically integrating a single biomimetic propulsion mode with buoyancy drive, this invention provides a biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with coordinated bow and stern drive.

[0005] This invention is implemented as follows: a biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with bow and stern coordinated drive, characterized by comprising a movable bow section, a buoyancy adjustment section, a biomimetic flapping-wing drive section, a pitch attitude adjustment section, and a movable aft section; the drive mechanism of the movable bow section includes multiple tandem spinal joints for providing yaw force for heading control; the buoyancy adjustment section is used to adjust the overall buoyancy of the vehicle by changing its own displaced fluid volume; the biomimetic flapping-wing drive section has left and right flexible flapping wings, each of which is independently driven by multiple drive motors to achieve multi-degree-of-freedom motion including oscillation, flapping, and feathering movements; the pitch attitude adjustment section is used to adjust the pitch attitude of the vehicle by moving internal weights; and the movable aft section is used to cooperate with the movable bow section to provide yaw force.

[0006] The movable bow section, buoyancy adjustment section, biomimetic flapping wing drive section, pitch attitude adjustment section, and movable aft section are modular structures, arranged sequentially along the axis of the vehicle and interconnected with each other; the sections are powered and communicated with each other via watertight cables, and each section is covered with a neutral buoyancy flexible skin; the vehicle achieves multiple motion modes by coordinating the flapping wing drive and the buoyancy drive.

[0007] In the above technical solution, preferably, the drive mechanism of the movable bow section and the movable aft section is driven by a single drive motor through a worm gear transmission mechanism to achieve continuous swinging in the horizontal plane and has a self-locking function.

[0008] In the above technical solution, preferably, the buoyancy adjustment section adopts a hydraulic buoyancy adjustment system, including an inner oil tank, an outer oil tank, a pump motor and a solenoid valve. The pump motor drives the pump to perform oil discharge or return operations to change the volume of the outer oil tank, thereby achieving buoyancy adjustment.

[0009] In the above technical solution, preferably, in the bionic flapping wing drive section, the three drive motors of the left flapping wing and the right flapping wing control the swinging, flapping, and feathering movements respectively, and the rotation center axes of the three drive motors converge at the same rotation center point.

[0010] In the above technical solution, preferably, the swinging, flapping, and feathering motions are combined through different motion modes to achieve single-degree-of-freedom, two-degree-of-freedom, or three-degree-of-freedom flapping motions, so as to produce a variety of propulsion effects.

[0011] In the above technical solution, preferably, the moving weight in the pitch attitude adjustment compartment is a battery pack, which moves on a double guide rail via a screw drive mechanism, and the displacement is detected by a wire displacement sensor.

[0012] In the above technical solution, preferably, the neutral buoyancy flexible skin is formed by injection molding of soft material mixed with hollow glass microspheres, which has the functions of vibration reduction, noise reduction and passive buoyancy compensation.

[0013] In the above technical solution, preferably, the control system of the aircraft includes a front cabin controller, a flapping wing section controller and a main controller, which are respectively located in the buoyancy adjustment section and the pitch attitude adjustment section, and communicate and coordinate control through a bus.

[0014] In the above technical solution, preferably, the installation positions of the buoyancy adjustment section and the pitch attitude adjustment section are interchangeable.

[0015] In the above technical solution, preferably, the vehicle can achieve a variety of movement modes, including diving, surfacing, steady-state navigation, steady-state turning, spiral turning, sawtooth gliding, and gliding-pounce integrated movement, through the coordinated drive of each compartment.

[0016] The biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with bow and stern coordinated drive provided by this invention has the following significant advantages: By systematically integrating biomimetic flapping wing propulsion with underwater gliding principles and adopting a modular, collaborative drive architecture, the core contradiction of balancing high maneuverability and low energy consumption in traditional vehicles has been successfully resolved. The coordinated control of its movable bow and stern with multi-degree-of-freedom flapping wings endows the vehicle with superior maneuverability beyond conventional platforms, enabling it to perform complex maneuvers such as in-situ turns and spiral turns. The unique buoyancy adjustment mechanism combined with flapping wing propulsion allows the vehicle to seamlessly switch between efficient gliding and active flapping wing propulsion modes, significantly expanding its operational range and mission adaptability. The structural design, where an open cage-like frame intersects with a three-motor rotation center, ensures structural rigidity while greatly reducing overall weight and significantly minimizing motion inertia interference, making flapping wing movement more precise and efficient. The distributed control system and modular design not only improve system reliability but also provide excellent functional reconfiguration and maintenance convenience. Furthermore, the application of a neutral buoyancy flexible skin not only achieves vibration and noise reduction but also provides passive buoyancy compensation, further optimizing energy utilization efficiency. In summary, this invention achieves synergistic improvements in mobility, energy consumption, environmental adaptability, and mission versatility, providing a novel technical solution for continuous operations in complex marine environments. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a partial cross-sectional view of the biomimetic sea lion underwater vehicle with coordinated wing-bow-stern motion according to the present invention. Figure 2 This is a partial cross-sectional view of the movable bow section of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the spinal joint connection of the movable bow section of this engine; Figure 4 This is a partial sectional view of the buoyancy adjustment compartment of the present invention; Figure 5 This is a partial cross-sectional view of the biomimetic flapping wing drive section of the present invention; Figure 6 This is a structural diagram of the main frame of the biomimetic flapping wing drive section of the present invention; Figure 7 This is an exploded view of the flapping wing drive mechanism of the present invention; Figure 8 This is a partial sectional view of the pitch attitude adjustment compartment of the present invention; Figure 9 This is the distribution and schematic diagram of the control system of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0018] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described in detail below with reference to embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the invention.

[0019] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, this invention provides a biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with coordinated bow and stern propulsion. To further illustrate the structure of this invention, a detailed description is provided below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings: Please see Figure 1 and Figure 2 This invention provides a biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with coordinated bow and stern propulsion. Its core lies in the organic integration of the high maneuverability of flapping-wing propulsion and the low energy consumption of buoyancy propulsion through the coordinated drive of modular modules. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the vehicle consists of five main modules arranged sequentially along the vehicle's axis: a movable bow section A, a buoyancy adjustment section B, a biomimetic flapping wing drive section C, a pitch attitude adjustment section D, and a movable stern section E. The sections are connected and powered by watertight cables 9, 19, and 63, and secured with bolts, ensuring the modularity and reconfigurability of the overall structure. The entire vehicle is covered with a neutral buoyancy flexible skin 2, 34, 39, and 60, formed by injecting soft materials mixed with hollow glass microspheres. This skin not only mimics the flexible appearance of marine life, providing excellent vibration and noise reduction, but more importantly, its inherent neutral buoyancy provides a passive, energy-free buoyancy compensation mechanism. This characteristic significantly reduces the energy consumption of active buoyancy adjustment during long-term underwater operations, extending endurance—an unexpected technological advantage.

[0020] The movable bow section A, as a key component providing heading control deflection force, has the following specific structure: Figure 2As shown. This section is mounted on the bow mounting plate 7 and is driven by a bow drive motor 6. The drive motor is directly connected to the worm 9 via its output shaft, and the other end of the worm is supported by the worm bearing 11 in the worm bearing housing 10. The worm 9 meshes with the worm wheel 12, forming a worm gear transmission mechanism with a self-locking function. The worm wheel 12 drives the first spinal joint 8 to rotate via the bow section transmission shaft 13. The spinal joints 8 are fastened together by locking screws 5 and transmitted through a series of connecting rod slide mechanism. Bolt-type bearings 3 are used for connection at the slide. Wear-resistant hard shims G are installed between each spinal joint 8. This series of designs not only ensures the flexibility of swinging, but also unexpectedly and significantly reduces the wear and motion noise of the mechanism under high-speed, high-frequency swinging, which is crucial for carrying out covert reconnaissance missions. Below the transmission mechanism is a movable bow section auxiliary support structure F, which is connected by a hinge, with the hinge rotation axis coinciding with the rotation axis of each spinal joint 8. A head model mounting plate 14 is provided at the end of the mechanism, and the head model 1 is connected to the head model mounting plate 14 by bolts. The head model 1 is molded by injection molding of soft material mixed with hollow glass microspheres. Skin mounting plates 4 are connected to each spinal joint 8, and neutral buoyancy movable bow section skin 2, which is formed by the same process, is installed on the skin mounting plates 4.

[0021] The buoyancy adjustment section B, located aft of the movable bow section A, is the core component enabling the aircraft's heave and gliding movements. Its structure is as follows: Figure 4As shown. Pump 20 is installed at the center of the inner end face of the sealed rear end cover 24 of the buoyancy adjustment compartment and is connected to the outer oil tank 21. Pump motor 18 is directly connected to pump 20. The rotation of pump motor 18 drives pump 20 to perform oil discharge operation, causing oil from inner oil tank 17 to flow to outer oil tank 21, thereby increasing the volume of outer oil tank 21 and changing the overall buoyancy of the aircraft. Outer oil tank 21 is installed on the sealed rear end cover 24 of the buoyancy adjustment compartment via outer oil tank clamping ring 22. Inner oil tank 17 is installed on the sealed rear end cover 24 of the buoyancy adjustment compartment via inner oil tank mounting bracket 16. Inner oil tank 17 is connected to pipeline 27 and oil tank pull wire sensor 19. The oil tank pull wire sensor 19 can measure the oil level in the inner oil tank, thereby calculating the overall buoyancy value of the aircraft. The buoyancy regulating section seal consists of a front cover 30, a housing 15, a rear cover 24, a watertight connector 23, watertight solid bolts 31, and a watertight connector 33 for the bow drive motor. The pressure inside the B-section buoyancy regulating section is lower than atmospheric pressure; oil return can be achieved by opening the solenoid valve 25. The front cover 30 and rear cover 24 are tightened by two tensioning screws 28. One end of the screw is mounted on the rear cover 24, and the other end is mounted on the front cover 30 via a tensioning nut 32. This unique screw tensioning structure not only ensures the sealing reliability of the compartment under deep-water pressure, but also enables it to withstand the periodic fluid impact loads generated by the violent flapping motion of the wings. This guarantees the structural integrity of the core buoyancy unit when the entire vehicle performs high-maneuverability maneuvers, which is a crucial synergistic stability effect that exceeds the design considerations of conventional buoyancy-driven vehicles. The buoyancy adjustment compartment's sealed shell 15 is covered with a buoyancy adjustment compartment skin 34 formed by injecting soft material mixed with hollow glass microspheres.

[0022] The biomimetic flapping wing drive section C is connected to the buoyancy adjustment section B and the pitch attitude adjustment section D via rib rings 53. Its main body is an open cage-like frame composed of rods 52, rod joints 51, and ribs. Figure 5 and Figure 6As shown. The rods 52 have different lengths. By adjusting the length of the rods 52, the installation position of the flapping wing mechanism can be adjusted, thereby changing the point of application of the thrust generated by the flexible flapping wing 44 during movement. The rod joint 51 can be divided into a female joint 51.1 and a male joint 51.2. One end of the female joint 51.1 is a grooved shaft, and the other end is a threaded hole. One end of the male joint 51.2 is a grooved shaft, and the other end is an external thread. The connectors at both ends of different rods are different. Rod 52.1 is connected to one female joint 51.1 and one male joint 51.2 at each end, and rod 52.2 is connected to one female joint 51.1 and one male joint 51.2 at each end. The rib ring 53 is fixed to the rod joint 51 with bolts. This frame structure is characterized by its light weight, high rigidity, and structural stability.

[0023] The specific composition of the flapping wing drive mechanism is as follows: Figure 7 As shown. The oscillating drive motor 48 is bolted to the oscillating motor mounting bracket 49. The lower part of the flapping drive motor bracket 47 is bolted to the oscillating drive motor 48, and the flapping drive motor 38 is mounted in the flapping drive motor bracket 47. The upper part of the flapping drive motor bracket 47 is bolted to the oscillating motor rotation fixing bracket 37 via a connecting shaft 79 and an oscillating bearing 80. The flapping wing U-shaped connecting bracket 46 is bolted to the output shaft of the flapping drive motor 38. The flapping wing mounting plate 40 is mounted to the flapping wing U-shaped connecting bracket 46 via flange-type bearings 42.1, deep groove ball bearings 42.2, flat thrust bearings 42.3, and bolts. The feather spin motor mounting bracket 41 is bolted to the flapping wing mounting plate 40 and connected to the feather spin drive motor 43 via bolts. The feather spin drive motor 43 is connected to the flapping wing U-shaped connecting bracket 46 via a feather spin drive motor connector 45. The aforementioned components, except for the rib ring 53, rod 52, oscillating motor rotation fixing bracket 37, and oscillating motor mounting bracket 49, are all divided into left and right sides and installed symmetrically. A key and effective design feature of this invention is that the rotation axes of the oscillating drive motor 48, the flapping drive motor 38, and the feather spin drive motor 43 converge at a single rotation center point. This layout unexpectedly and significantly reduces the inertial interference and additional load on the flapping wing caused by the mass of the motors themselves during movement, making the flapping wing's trajectory more precise and efficient, closer to the flapping wing dynamics of real marine organisms, thereby generating greater propulsion or achieving more complex maneuvers with the same power consumption. The oscillating drive motor 48, the flapping drive motor 38, and the feather spin drive motor 43 respectively control the oscillating, flapping, and feather spin movements of the flexible flapping wing 44. Through the coordinated operation of the three motors, single-degree-of-freedom, two-degree-of-freedom, or three-degree-of-freedom flapping wing movements and various motion trajectories can be achieved, adapting to various operational scenarios. The flexible flapping wing 44 is connected to the drive mechanism via the flapping wing mounting plate 40, and is covered with a flapping wing flexible skin 39.

[0024] The structure of pitch attitude control section D is as follows: Figure 8 As shown, the vehicle's pitch attitude is adjusted by moving the battery pack 57. The battery pack 57, serving as both a moving weight and power source, is connected to the guide rail 74 via a linear bearing 71 and bolted to the lead screw nut 72. One end of the drive screw 61 is connected to the pitch drive motor 54 via a coupling 73, and the other end is connected to the drive screw support 66 mounted on the rear rib 62. The pitch drive motor 54 is bolted to the front rib 55. The guide rail 74 is installed between the front rib 55 and the rear rib 62 and is limited by the guide rail support 68. The front rib 55 and the rear rib 62 are fixed within the pitch attitude adjustment compartment sealed housing 59 using front rib limit blocks 75 and rear rib limit blocks 69. The combination of dual guide rails and lead screws ensures reliable multi-directional support for the weight movement mechanism even during large pitch angles or roll movements, preventing the weight from jamming or becoming inaccurate. This enables precise and stable control of pitch attitude in complex flow environments, which is fundamental for stable gliding and smooth mode switching. Its robustness far surpasses that of simple single-rail designs. The pitch attitude adjustment compartment sealing front cover 78 and the pitch attitude adjustment compartment sealing rear cover 63 are tightened by the pitch attitude adjustment compartment end cover tightening bolts 66, the pitch attitude adjustment compartment end cover tightening nuts 67, and the pitch attitude adjustment compartment end cover tightening lead screws 70. The pitch attitude adjustment compartment sealing shell 59 is covered with a pitch attitude adjustment compartment skin 60 formed by injection molding of soft material mixed with hollow glass microspheres.

[0025] The structure of movable stern section E is exactly the same as that of movable bow section A, and will not be described again here.

[0026] The aircraft's control system employs a distributed architecture, such as... Figure 9 As shown. The forward control unit 26 is located in the sealed compartment of the buoyancy adjustment section B and is responsible for the motion control of the movable bow section A, the oil return and discharge control of the buoyancy adjustment section B, the data acquisition of the depth sensor 29, and the data recording of the external sensors installed in the movable bow section A. The flapping wing section controller 76 and the main controller 77 are located in the sealed front cover 78 of the pitch attitude adjustment section. The flapping wing section controller 76 is responsible for coordinating the movement of the oscillation drive motor 48, the flapping drive motor 38, and the feather spin drive motor 43 in the bionic flapping wing drive section. The main controller 77 is responsible for the data recording of the external sensors installed in the movable stern section E, the control of the pitch drive motor 54, the acquisition of the vehicle's attitude information, radio communication, satellite positioning, and the acquisition of data from the depth sensor 29. The antennas required for wireless communication and satellite positioning are installed in the antenna cover 36 on the top of the bionic flapping wing drive section C. The control system uses RS485 bus for data transmission.

[0027] In summary, through the modular and collaborative design described above, this invention enables the vehicle to flexibly achieve various movement modes, including diving, surfacing, steady-state navigation, steady-state turning, spiral turning, zigzag gliding, and integrated gliding and flapping, while possessing the advantages of high maneuverability, low energy consumption, and strong environmental adaptability. The unique structural design of each section generates many unexpected collaborative technical effects that exceed conventional designs during collaborative operation, providing a completely new solution for improving the performance of biomimetic underwater vehicles.

Claims

1. A biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with coordinated bow and stern propulsion, characterized in that, include: The movable bow section has a drive mechanism that includes multiple tandem spinal joints for providing deflection forces for heading control. A buoyancy adjustment section is used to adjust the overall buoyancy of the vehicle by changing its own discharge volume; The biomimetic flapping wing drive section has left and right flexible flapping wings, each of which is independently driven by multiple drive motors to achieve multi-degree-of-freedom motion including swinging, flapping, and feathering motions. Pitch attitude adjustment compartment, used to adjust the pitch attitude of the vehicle by moving internal weights; The movable aft section is used to cooperate with the movable bow section to provide deflection force; The movable bow section, buoyancy adjustment section, biomimetic flapping wing drive section, pitch attitude adjustment section and movable aft section are modular structures, arranged sequentially along the axis of the vehicle and connected to each other. The various sections are connected by watertight cables for power supply and communication, and each section is covered with a neutral buoyancy flexible skin. The vehicle achieves multiple motion modes by coordinating the flapping wing drive and the buoyancy drive.

2. The biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with bow and stern coordinated drive according to claim 1, characterized in that, The drive mechanism of the movable bow section and the movable aft section is driven by a single drive motor through a worm gear transmission mechanism, enabling continuous swinging in the horizontal plane and possessing a self-locking function.

3. The biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with bow and stern coordinated drive according to claim 1, characterized in that, The buoyancy adjustment section adopts a hydraulic buoyancy adjustment system, which includes an inner oil tank, an outer oil tank, a pump motor, and a solenoid valve. The pump motor drives the pump to perform oil discharge or return operations to change the volume of the outer oil tank, thereby achieving buoyancy adjustment.

4. The biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with bow and stern coordinated drive according to claim 1, characterized in that, In the biomimetic flapping wing drive section, three drive motors for each of the left and right flapping wings control the oscillation, flapping, and feathering movements, respectively, and the rotation center axes of the three drive motors converge at the same rotation center point.

5. The biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with bow and stern coordinated drive according to claim 4, characterized in that, The oscillation, flapping, and feathering motions, through combinations of different motion modes, achieve single-degree-of-freedom, two-degree-of-freedom, or three-degree-of-freedom flapping motions to produce a variety of propulsion effects.

6. The biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with bow and stern coordinated drive according to claim 1, characterized in that, The moving weight in the pitch attitude adjustment compartment is a battery pack, which moves on a double guide rail via a lead screw transmission mechanism, and the displacement is detected by a wire displacement sensor.

7. The biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with bow and stern coordinated drive according to claim 1, characterized in that, The neutral buoyancy flexible skin is formed by injection molding of soft material mixed with hollow glass microspheres, and has the functions of vibration reduction, noise reduction and passive buoyancy compensation.

8. The biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with bow and stern coordinated drive according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control system of the aircraft includes a front cabin controller, a flapping wing section controller, and a main controller, which are respectively located in the buoyancy adjustment section and the pitch attitude adjustment section, and communicate and coordinate control through a bus.

9. The biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with bow and stern coordinated drive according to claim 1, characterized in that, The installation positions of the buoyancy adjustment section and the pitch attitude adjustment section are interchangeable.

10. The biomimetic flapping-wing underwater vehicle with bow and stern coordinated drive according to claim 1, characterized in that, Through the coordinated drive of its various sections, the vehicle can achieve a variety of movement modes, including diving, surfacing, steady-state navigation, steady-state turning, spiral turning, sawtooth gliding, and integrated ski-flipping.

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