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Inertia-driven amphibious robot with asymmetric microundulatory fin arrays
Lingqi Tang1,2, Yongzun Yang1,3, Bing Li1,4,5,6
1School of Robotics and Advanced Manufacture, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China.
Science Advances
|February 18, 2026
Summary
This study introduces a novel inertia-driven amphibious robot. It uses a voice coil motor and sealed shell for versatile locomotion on land and in water, overcoming sealing challenges in small robots.
Area of Science:
- Robotics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Fluid Dynamics
Background:
- Centimeter-scale amphibious robots offer versatile task capabilities.
- Existing designs often struggle with sealing, complexity, and reliability at small scales.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a novel inertia-driven actuation strategy for centimeter-scale amphibious robots.
- To overcome the limitations of existing amphibious robot designs regarding sealing and reliability.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a variable-output voice coil motor (VCM) integrated with a fully sealed rigid shell.
- Implemented inertia-driven actuation for jumping, terrestrial vibration, and aquatic propulsion.
- Employed passive tilted fins for steerable aquatic thrust generation.
- Conducted terrestrial locomotion tests, aquatic experiments, high-speed particle image velocimetry (PIV), and simulations.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated centimeter-scale robot's ability to jump, perform terrestrial locomotion with load carrying, and achieve aquatic propulsion.
- Achieved inertia-driven multidirectional propulsion in water using passive fins.
- Analyzed thrust generation and frequency-dependent propulsion characteristics.
- A 24-gram legless prototype (Leglessbot) showed effective locomotion across diverse terrains.
Conclusions:
- The inertia-driven actuation strategy provides a compact and reliable solution for underactuated amphibious mobility.
- The developed robot overcomes sealing challenges and offers versatile locomotion capabilities.
- This approach advances the design of small-scale robots for complex environmental interactions.
