An electric ray inspired Biomimetic Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

The development of a novel Biologically-inspired (or Biomimetic) Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (BAUV) inspired by the Pacific electric ray is addressed. The design and hardware implementation of experimental prototypes of the “RayBot” BAUV are described. Extensive observations of live electric rays provided key biological inspirations in the development of the BAUV. As part of the effort, a six degree-of-freedom impulse-based multi-body approach for modeling and simulation of BAUVs was also developed and validated through comparison with experimental data.