A Small Water Surface Jumping Robot Utilizing Efficient Hydrodynamic Resistance Based on Rapid Recoil Design

The energy of water surface jumping is easily lost due to the fluidity and splashing of water. As the robot's size and mass increase, its jumping performance is more significantly affected. The key to increasing the robot's takeoff velocity is enhancing the impulse generated by efficient hydrodynamic resistance, which is primarily related to the stored energy and the leg paddling velocity. By designing and optimizing an energy storage mechanism based on the coupling of latex and carbon fiber, and a torque-reversing driving mechanism based on a double-four-bar linkage, the movement speed of the driving plate was increased, resulting in greater hydrodynamic resistance and thus enhancing the robot's take-off impulse. The robot has dimensions of 270 mm × 195 mm × 135 mm and weights 185 g. Its jumping performance is analyzed through jumping dynamic simulations on water surface and verified by experiments. And the load capacity of the robot was also tested. The robot's takeoff velocity is 4.11 m/s, with a maximum jumping height of 748 mm and jumping distance of 1176 mm.