Mechanical actuator for biomimetic propulsion and the effect of the caudal fin elasticity on the swimming performance


Autoria(s): Apalkov, Andrey; Fernández, Roemi; Fontaine, Jean-Guy; Akinfiev, Teodor; Armada Rodríguez, Manuel Ángel
Data(s)

01/05/2012

Resumo

This paper presents a mechanical actuator for the biomimetic propulsion of swimming devices and the experimental study of the effect of the caudal fin elasticity on the overall performance. The design of the proposed drive allows the DC motor to operate at constant speed, so all the power of the motor is spent only for the motion of the caudal fin. A prototype of the actuator, in which the caudal fin serves as a driving element, is manufactured and tested in both laboratory and natural conditions. The swimming speed, the thrust efficiency and the maneuverability are evaluated for caudal fins with different stiffness. The caudal fin whose rigidity varies relative to both vertical and horizontal cross-section, exhibits the best performance. The achieved results also confirm that the proposed actuator could be of great interest to applications in the field of underwater operation, ocean investigation and environmental protection.

Formato

application/pdf

Identificador

http://oa.upm.es/21302/

Idioma(s)

eng

Relação

http://oa.upm.es/21302/1/INVE_MEM_2012_144187.pdf

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924424712000465

info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.sna.2012.01.022

Direitos

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Fonte

Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, ISSN 0924-4247, 2012-05, Vol. 178

Palavras-Chave #Robótica e Informática Industrial
Tipo

info:eu-repo/semantics/article

Artículo

PeerReviewed