Airacuda

2006

Elias Maria Knubben
Markus Fischer
Bernd Lorenz (DE)
Achim Schanze
Walter Harrer
Walter Suchy
Otto Szenn
Christoph Altekamp
Leif Kniese
Matthias Kübler

“Airacuda” glides through the water as effortlessly as a fish. In this visionary project inspired by nature, FESTO engineers have transferred a fish’s mode of locomotion into a technical application. The result is a remote-controlled, pneumatically driven robot fish.

By harnessing “fluidic muscle” and the Fin Ray Effect^® developed by Leif Kniese, the robot fish can execute complex swimming maneuvers. The Fin Ray Effect results from a structure engineered to replicate a tailfin. Fluidic Muscle is a hose consisting of alternate layers of elastomer and aramid fibers. When the muscle is filled with compressed air, its diameter increases and its length contracts. Modeled on human muscle, it displays a high degree of flexibility.

The Airacuda regulates its underwater depth just like the creature it’s modeled on: through an internal bladder that can either be filled with air or flooded with water.

Using leading-edge technology to fathom the incredible diversity of nature and to learn from it is one of the challenges of the future. Solutions are often so close at hand and yet so very difficult to reproduce.

Thanks to support from the FESTO CORP., the Ars Electronica Center is able to present to its visitors the latest advances in the field of robotics—for instance, the Humphrey II fight simulator and the robot arm on the 1^st Upper Level.

Project initiator: Dr. Wilfried Stoll, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, FESTO AG