A PORTABLE UNDERWATER ROBOT WITH A TENSEGRITY BODY COMPOSED OF THRUSTER UNITS

A portable underwater robot system is required for observations in shallow water, because the weight and volume of a large robot and a large robotic system make them difficult to utilize under these conditions. We have designed an underwater robot with a tensile structure composed of thruster units. Utilizing these thruster units as struts, the robot had a lightweight body and occupied a large volume in space when moving. This manuscript shows the verification of this concept through geometric analyses and experimental evaluations.