Robotic Fish Propulsion Using Torque Reaction Engines and Fin Waves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing propeller-driven watercraft face challenges such as complex designs, high maintenance costs, limited maneuverability, and inefficiency in environments like the ocean floor and sewer pipes due to multiple moving parts and sealed components, which restrict their deployment time and range.
Innovation Solution
A robotic fish design utilizing torque reaction engines (TREs) secured to a fin, which transfer momentum between magnets and an inertial mass without a driveshaft, allowing for efficient propulsion and maneuverability through a fin's translation or rotation, using electronic control to adjust torque angles and wave interference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If propeller driven craft use multiple moving parts and sealed components, then they can achieve propulsion and steering functions, but the device complexity increases and maintenance difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the propeller entirely from the watercraft design, extracting the problematic component that required complex sealing and multiple moving parts. Instead, the invention uses water jet propulsion where water is drawn in and expelled through a nozzle, eliminating the need for sealed bearings and complex power transfer mechanisms that connect to the external environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical propeller-driven system with a water jet system that uses a pump to generate thrust. This substitution eliminates the need for mechanical connections between moving parts and the external water environment, removing the requirement for sealed components and reducing overall device complexity.
2Reliability
If propeller driven craft use sealed components against water entry, then they can protect internal mechanisms, but the reliability decreases due to vulnerability to failure and maintenance difficulty
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes all sealed components that were previously necessary to protect internal mechanisms from water. By using water jet propulsion with a pump system, the internal mechanisms remain isolated from water without requiring seals, bearings, or other protective barriers that are vulnerable to failure and difficult to maintain.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes the sealed mechanical protection system with a hydrodynamic approach where the pump housing and nozzle design naturally prevent water ingress. This eliminates sealed components entirely, improving reliability by removing failure points and simplifying maintenance since no seals need to be inspected or replaced.
3Ease of operation
If propeller driven craft have multiple mechanisms for moving in different directions, then they can achieve maneuverability, but the device complexity increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a dynamic nozzle system that can change the direction of water jet expulsion in real-time to achieve maneuvering. Instead of having multiple fixed propellers or fins, the single nozzle can be oriented in different directions, providing full maneuverability while maintaining hydrodynamic efficiency through a streamlined hull design without multiple protruding mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple functions (propulsion and steering) into a single integrated water jet system. The same pump and nozzle assembly that provides forward thrust can also be oriented to provide steering forces, eliminating the need for separate mechanisms for each function and reducing overall device complexity while maintaining efficiency.
4Adaptability or versatility
If propeller driven craft operate in contact with challenging environments, then they can access diverse locations, but the reliability decreases due to entanglement and contact with obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a streamlined, smooth-hulled design that allows the watercraft to glide over or through challenging environments like the ocean floor, pilings, and narrow passages without getting entangled. The absence of protruding propellers and multiple moving parts means the hull can flex and conform to irregular surfaces, enabling access to diverse locations while maintaining reliability by avoiding contact with obstacles.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design reduces the number of moving parts, enhances maneuverability, and increases efficiency, enabling operation in challenging environments with reduced maintenance needs and extended deployment times.
Implementation Method 1
transfer momentum between magnets and an inertial mass without a driveshaft
Implementation Method 2
one or more torque reaction engines (TREs) secured to the fin, wherein the one or more TREs are to cause the fin to translate or rotate through and transfer momentum to a surrounding thrust fluid, wherein the one or more TREs comprise a first set of magnets, a second set of magnets, and an inertial mass
Implementation Method 3
cause the fin to translate or rotate through and transfer momentum to a surrounding thrust fluid
Data Source
AI summary
A robotic fish comprises one or more torque reaction engines and a fin, wherein the one or more torque reaction engines cyclically oscillate and is to cause one or more waves to propagate through the fin, wherein the one or more waves accelerating thrust fluid and propel the robotic fish. The robotic fish may have a shape of a flagellum, a fish, a marine mammal, or a disc. The one or more of the one or more torque reaction engines may comprise a drive shaft or may comprise no drive shaft. When the one or more of the one or more torque reaction engines comprises no drive shaft, the one or more of the one or more torque reaction engines may comprise a bearing surface of a closed ball-and-socket joint.