Evaluating an AEF Swimming Microrobot Using a Hardware-in-the-loop Testbed

Abstract

This paper studies the swimming and control effectiveness of a 4-link artificial eukaryotic flagellum (AEF) swimming microrobot through hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experiments, which are executed in an environment characterized by high mechanical stress. The tested HIL experiment consists of a simulator of the robot, developed in the MATLAB/ Simulink environment, and a microcontroller Atmel ATmega32u4, where the control of the robot is programmed. Data exchange between the simulator and microcontroller is carried out through serial protocol via universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART). For comparison purposes, two control strategies, namely fractional order proportional-derivative (PD$$^{\mu }$$) and integer order proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers, are considered for the robot to emulate a non-reciprocal motion. Two types of these controllers are implemented and evaluated.