Cycle-resolved Cephalopod-Inspired Pulsed-Jet Robot With High-Volume Expulsion and Drag-Reduced Gliding

2026-05-07

AI Summary

Inspired by cephalopods, this study proposes a hybrid rigid–compliant origami-based pulsed jet propulsion mechanism designed to synergistically achieve high-displacement ejection, low-resistance gliding, and rapid passive refilling within a complete locomotion cycle. By leveraging geometry-guided active large-deformation design, the system integrates a high-displacement-ratio contraction chamber, a drag-reducing gliding configuration, and a bioinspired unidirectional inlet valve, establishing—for the first time in robotics—a fully biomimetic pulsed-jet propulsion framework encompassing the entire operational sequence. Experimental results demonstrate that the system attains a peak speed of 0.5 m/s (3.8 body lengths per second) within a single cycle and an average speed exceeding 0.2 m/s (1.5 BL/s), while reducing jet chamber volume by 75% and decreasing projected drag area during gliding by 75.7%, thereby significantly enhancing propulsive efficiency and maneuverability.

Abstract

Cephalopod pulsed-jet locomotion is not a single isolated expulsion event, but a coordinated cycle involving jet expulsion, passive gliding, and mantle refilling. Inspired by this cycle-resolved biological strategy, this paper presents a cephalopod-inspired pulsed-jet robot with a rigid-soft hybrid origami mantle that enables large, actively driven, and geometry-guided body deformation. The proposed mantle integrates rigid folding panels with a compliant silicone framework, allowing a 75% effective cavity-volume reduction during expulsion and reducing the projected cross-sectional drag area by approximately 75.7% in the contracted gliding configuration. Using this platform, we formulate a cycle-resolved framework to separately investigate how expelled volume, glide duration, and refill pathway influence whole-cycle locomotion performance. Experiments show that the robot reaches a peak speed of approximately 0.5 m/s (3.8 BL/s) and an average speed exceeding 0.2 m/s (1.5 BL/s) within the first jetting cycle. The results further demonstrate the roles of high expelled-volume-ratio contraction in speed generation, reduced-drag-area gliding under different glide durations, and mantle-aperture-inspired passive inlet valves in assisting refill. This work provides both a robotic implementation of actively deformable cephalopod-like jet propulsion and a unified experimental platform for studying expulsion-gliding-refilling dynamics in pulsed-jet locomotion.

Problem

• pulsed-jet locomotion
• cephalopod-inspired robot
• cycle-resolved propulsion
• drag-reduced gliding
• high-volume expulsion

Innovation

• pulsed-jet locomotion
• rigid-soft hybrid origami
• cycle-resolved propulsion
• drag-reduced gliding
• high-volume expulsion