Abstract
This study presents the design of an underwater superlimb as a wearable robot, providing divers with mobility assistance and freeing their hands for manipulating tools underwater. The wearable design features a thrust vectoring system with two 3D-printed, waterproofed modules. The module with adjustable connections and strapping holes is designed to enable reconfiguration for multiple purposes, including regular use as an underwater superlimb for divers, manually operated as a handheld glider for swimmers, combined with an amphibian, legged robot as a quadruped superlimb, and coupled as a dual-unit autonomous underwater vehicle for underwater navigation. The kinematics and dynamics of the prototype and all of its reconfigured modes are developed. A sliding-mode controller is also introduced to achieve stable simulation in PyBullet. Field tests further support the feasibility of the underwater superlimb when worn on a test diver in a swimming pool. As the first underwater superlimb presented in the literature, this study opens new doors for supernumerary robotic limbs in underwater scenarios with multifunctional reconfiguration.
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BibTeX (Download)
@article{Huo2023ReconfigurableDesign,
title = {Reconfigurable Design and Modeling of an Underwater Superlimb for Diving Assistance},
author = {Jiayu Huo and Jingran Wang and Yuqin Guo and Wanghongjie Qiu and Mingdong Chen and Harry Asada and Fang Wan and Chaoyang Song},
doi = {10.1002/aisy.202300245},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-08-17},
urldate = {2023-08-17},
journal = {Advanced Intelligent Systems},
volume = {5},
number = {11},
issue = {November},
pages = {2300245},
abstract = {This study presents the design of an underwater superlimb as a wearable robot, providing divers with mobility assistance and freeing their hands for manipulating tools underwater. The wearable design features a thrust vectoring system with two 3D-printed, waterproofed modules. The module with adjustable connections and strapping holes is designed to enable reconfiguration for multiple purposes, including regular use as an underwater superlimb for divers, manually operated as a handheld glider for swimmers, combined with an amphibian, legged robot as a quadruped superlimb, and coupled as a dual-unit autonomous underwater vehicle for underwater navigation. The kinematics and dynamics of the prototype and all of its reconfigured modes are developed. A sliding-mode controller is also introduced to achieve stable simulation in PyBullet. Field tests further support the feasibility of the underwater superlimb when worn on a test diver in a swimming pool. As the first underwater superlimb presented in the literature, this study opens new doors for supernumerary robotic limbs in underwater scenarios with multifunctional reconfiguration.},
keywords = {Adv. Intell. Syst. (AIS), Back Cover, Corresponding Author, Editor's Choice, JCR Q1},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
