Design and experiment of a compact suction-capture robot for sea cucumbers

To address the challenges of low efficiency and high operational risks in manual sea cucumber harvesting, as well as the limitations of existing harvesting robots including insufficient efficiency, structural redundancy, and high biological damage rates, this study presents a novel miniaturized sea cucumber suction-capture robot. A topology-optimized lightweight 3D model was constructed using Solidworks, featuring an innovative integration of a multi-stage negative pressure suction system with a six-degree-of-freedom propulsion mechanism (4 horizontal + 2 vertical). Through Ansys fluid dynamics simulations and combined stress analysis via Solidworks Flo Xpress/Simulation Xpress. Underwater experiments demonstrate that the robot achieves stable operation at 0-20m depths with a 92.5% successful capture rate, less than 3% epidermal damage rate, and precise six-degree-of-freedom pose control. This research provides a scalable technological framework for intelligent aquaculture harvesting, achieving dual breakthroughs in operational efficiency and eco-friendliness while significantly reducing occupational hazards. This study provides valuable insights for optimizing the structural design of sea cucumber suction-capture robots.