7. Conclusion and outlook

The "eel robot" project, supported by the CNRS national ROBEA program, is now entering its second half. Among the results obtained are those concerning the mechanical design, which, based on a serial stacking of parallel modules, has led to a first CATIA version of the prototype. Two key issues remain to be resolved:

• skin, for which, although solutions have been proposed, many uncertainties remain;

• the prototype's buoyancy, which should be improved in the future and lead to ballast or bladder systems...

Finally, from a knowledge standpoint, a number of results have been achieved. These include those relating to fluid mechanics (Navier-Stokes), hyperredundant robotics (macrocontinuous modeling) and polyarticulated robotics (extension of the Newton-Euler formalism to the problem...