Aiming at the bottleneck of the insufficient electric endurance of unattended vehicles, the configuration design, motion performance and energy capture efficiency analysis of a manta ray bionic unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) are carried out.

The configuration of a multi-module bionic long-endurance manta ray UUV is proposed, and its motion and energy capture mechanism are deduced and obtained under the principle of wave energy capture by a floating hydraulic cylinder. Next, based on the multi-module floating body theory and three-dimensional potential theory, hydrodynamic calculation and analysis are carried out, and the motion response and wave energy capture law of the multi-module manta ray UUV are revealed under different wave directions and different connected stiffness and damping of the UUV.

Finally, the wave energy capture efficiency of the multi-module manta ray UUV in waves is studied in combination with the optimal stiffness and damping of the hydraulic cylinder.

It is concluded that the wave energy capture characteristics of a multi-module manta ray UUV can be analyzed by its motion equations and energy capture formula.