Design of biomimetic compliant devices for locomotion in liquid environments

Presently, there is a need for devices capable of autonomous locomotion in liquid environments. Humanitarian, industrial and defense applications are numerous and include examples such as search and rescue missions, ocean exploration, and de-mining operations. Due to the nature of the environments involved, the required devices must overcome several challenges. The main challenges are related to hardware performance in terms of propulsion efficiency, mechanical robustness, maneuverability, adaptability, stealth and autonomy. Current traditional approaches that use propeller driven devices have limited success in addressing these challenges. As a result devices that mimic fish-like swimming techniques have emerged as a promising alternative that can provide additional maneuvering features and the promise of improved performance. However, the inherent problems of current biomimetic devices have been identified as: (i) mechanical complexity due to the use of discrete and rigid components, and (ii) lack of a systematic design approach. These problems limit the practical implementation of biomimetic techniques in real mission environments. This thesis presents an alternative approach for implementing biomimetic fish-like swimming techniques by exploiting natural dynamics of compliant bodies.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Valdivia y Alvarado, Pablo (Pablo Alvaro), 1977-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kamal Youcef-Toumi.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38927

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/38927