The BionicFinWave is an incredible underwater robotic fish, created by Festo, that glides through the water with its mesmerizing wavy fins. The robots two silicone fins wiggle from its head to tail, much like marine planarian and cuttlefish, allowing it to “generate a continuous wave.”
The BionicFinWave uses its two side fins to move along. They are completely cast from silicone and do without struts or other support elements. This makes them extremely flexible and thus able to implement the fluid wave movements of their biological role models true to nature.
For this purpose, the two fins on the left and right are each fastened to nine small lever arms. These in turn are driven by two servo motors located in the body of the underwater robot. Two attached crankshafts transfer the force to the levers in such a way that the two fins can move individually. (read more)