Conference proceeding
Development of bio-inspired amphibious AUVs based on the morphological and swimming kinematics of secondarily aquatic vertebrates
Biologically Inspired Materials, Processes, and Systems (BIMPS) 2025, v 13430, 1343004
12 May 2025
Abstract
The biomimetic approach holds that the structure and performance of animals can be used as inspiration for the development and improvement of engineered technologies. In examining locomotion, sea lions and sea turtles demonstrate amphibious capabilities that can be emulated for the development of robotic systems that can move from the water onto the land. Both sea lions and sea turtles have elongated fore flippers for thrust production when swimming. While these species are different phylogenetically, they have converged on morphologies and mechanisms for efficient swimming and have the capability for quadrupedal movement onto land. Turning is accomplished using fore and hind flippers for both species. Sea lions display faster turning rates for translational with small turning radii compared to sea turtles, which are constrained by their rigid shell. However, sea turtles are capable of performing pure rotational turns with a zero radius. The flipper and body morphologies and swimming and turning performance along with terrestrial ability were integrated into two robotic systems based on the sea lion and sea turtle. These amphibious bio-robotic systems present a new and innovative approach in the development of autonomous underwater vehicles with advanced capabilities.
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Details
- Title
- Development of bio-inspired amphibious AUVs based on the morphological and swimming kinematics of secondarily aquatic vertebrates
- Creators
- Frank E. Fish - West Chester UniversityRebecca K. Kramer-Bottiglio - Yale UniversityMegan C. Leftwich - George Washington UniversityJames L. Tangorra - Drexel UniversityHarry G. Kwatny - Drexel University
- Contributors
- Akhlesh Lakhtakia (Editor) - Pennsylvania State UniversityMato Knez (Editor) - CIC nanoGUNERaúl J. Martín-Palma (Editor) - Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
- Publication Details
- Biologically Inspired Materials, Processes, and Systems (BIMPS) 2025, v 13430, 1343004
- Conference
- SPIE Smart Structures + Nondestructive Evaluation (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 17 Mar 2025–25 Mar 2025)
- Series
- Proceedings of SPIE, the international society for optical engineering; 13430
- Publisher
- SPIE
- Number of pages
- 15
- Grant note
- Office of Naval Research: N000141712312, N00014-16-S-FO15, N00012-20-S-B001, N00014-23-S-B001, N0001424-1-2536
We are indebted to the generous funding to support the research on amphibious biomimetic robotic systems based on sea turtle/tortoise and sea lion from the Office of Naval Research (Thomas McKenna, program manager) for the following grants, N000141712312, N00014-16-S-FO15, N000141712312, N00012-20-S-B001, N00014-23-S-B001, and N0001424-1-2536. We also acknowledge the assistance of the students working on these projects at the laboratories of George Washington University, Drexel University, and the Liquid Life Lab of West Chester University.
- Resource Type
- Conference proceeding
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001536713600003
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-105009322190
- Other Identifier
- 991022056940204721