Development of an Underwater Actuator by Artificial Muscles

We aim at the development of an actuator that becomes alternative of the Screw propeller to work in underwater environment whereas there are turbulences such as the currents and waves. We have been developing a fin type actuator that imitates the underwater creature's function by using artificial muscles as driving source. In this paper, we will introduce the concept of the fin type actuator and the results of performance evaluation test of the artificial muscle.