A Review on Underwater Perception Based on Bio-inspired Artificial Lateral Line System

Abstract

The lateral line is a type of unique sensing organ in fish, which helps the fish to perceive information on the surrounding environment underwater. Inspired by this phenomenon, the design and development of an artificial lateral line system and application to underwater robots have garnered much interest in the research of unmanned underwater systems, and attracted extensive attention from scholars worldwide. The research status of the bio-inspired artificial lateral line system is summarized from the perspectives of the bionic principle, structural design, and perception function. Specifically, the results obtained by the author’s team based on box-fish-inspired robots and an artificial lateral line system are introduced, including motion state estimation, attitude holding control, and neighboring perception. Through the summary and analysis of the existing research and results, future development directions for the underwater bio-inspired artificial lateral line system are provided, including the design optimization of sensor arrays, flow perception in the natural environment, implementation of obstacle avoidance behavior and swarm behavior.

Keywords

• bio-inspired robotic fish
• artificial lateral line system
• underwater perception
• underwater robot