{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/44800"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/44800","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Biomimetic oscillating foil propulsion to enhance underwater vehicle agility and maneuverability","abstract":"Inspired by the swimming abilities of marine animals, this thesis presents \"Finnegan the RoboTurtle\", an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) powered entirely by four flapping foils. Biomimetic actuation is shown to produce dramatic improvements in AUV maneuvering at cruising speeds, while simultaneously allowing for agility at low speeds. Using control algorithms linear in the modified Rodrigues parameters to support large angle maneuvers, the vehicle is successfully controlled in banked and twisting turns, exceeding the best reported AUV turning performance by more than a factor of two; a minimum turning radius of 0.7BL, and the ability to avoid walls detected > 1.8BL ahead, are found for cruising speeds of 0.75BL/s, with a maximum heading rate of 400/s recorded. Observations of \"Myrtle\", a 250kg Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) at the New England Aquarium, are detailed; along with steady swimming, Myrtle is observed performing 1800 level turns and rapidly actuating pitch to control depth and speed. Limb kinematics for the level turning maneuver are replicated by Finnegan, and turning rates comparable to those of the turtle are achieved. Foil kinematics which produce approximately sinusoidal nominal angle of attack trace are shown to improve turning performance by as much as 25%; the effect is achieved despite limited knowledge of the flow field. Finally, tests with a single foil are used to demonstrate that biomimetically inspired inline motion can allow oscillating foils utilizing a power/recovery style stroke to generate as much as 90% of the thrust from a power/power stroke style motion.","abstract_html":"Inspired by the swimming abilities of marine animals, this thesis presents "Finnegan the RoboTurtle", an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) powered entirely by four flapping foils. Biomimetic actuation is shown to produce dramatic improvements in AUV maneuvering at cruising speeds, while simultaneously allowing for agility at low speeds. Using control algorithms linear in the modified Rodrigues parameters to support large angle maneuvers, the vehicle is successfully controlled in banked and twisting turns, exceeding the best reported AUV turning performance by more than a factor of two; a minimum turning radius of 0.7BL, and the ability to avoid walls detected > 1.8BL ahead, are found for cruising speeds of 0.75BL/s, with a maximum heading rate of 400/s recorded. Observations of "Myrtle", a 250kg Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) at the New England Aquarium, are detailed; along with steady swimming, Myrtle is observed performing 1800 level turns and rapidly actuating pitch to control depth and speed. Limb kinematics for the level turning maneuver are replicated by Finnegan, and turning rates comparable to those of the turtle are achieved. Foil kinematics which produce approximately sinusoidal nominal angle of attack trace are shown to improve turning performance by as much as 25%; the effect is achieved despite limited knowledge of the flow field. Finally, tests with a single foil are used to demonstrate that biomimetically inspired inline motion can allow oscillating foils utilizing a power/recovery style stroke to generate as much as 90% of the thrust from a power/power stroke style motion.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Licht, Stephen Carl"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering.","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Michael Triantafyllou."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2008,"date_issued":"2008","date_published":"2008","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:12Z","subjects":["Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.","Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering.","Mechanical Engineering."],"languages":["eng"],"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."],"rights_urls":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44800","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Michael Triantafyllou."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering.","Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.","Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.other","label":"Dc Contributor Other","values":["Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Licht, Stephen Carl"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2009-03-16T19:44:58Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2009-03-16T19:44:58Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2008"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.","Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering.","Mechanical Engineering."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["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."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44800"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-216).","Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2008."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Inspired by the swimming abilities of marine animals, this thesis presents \"Finnegan the RoboTurtle\", an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) powered entirely by four flapping foils. Biomimetic actuation is shown to produce dramatic improvements in AUV maneuvering at cruising speeds, while simultaneously allowing for agility at low speeds. Using control algorithms linear in the modified Rodrigues parameters to support large angle maneuvers, the vehicle is successfully controlled in banked and twisting turns, exceeding the best reported AUV turning performance by more than a factor of two; a minimum turning radius of 0.7BL, and the ability to avoid walls detected > 1.8BL ahead, are found for cruising speeds of 0.75BL/s, with a maximum heading rate of 400/s recorded. Observations of \"Myrtle\", a 250kg Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) at the New England Aquarium, are detailed; along with steady swimming, Myrtle is observed performing 1800 level turns and rapidly actuating pitch to control depth and speed. Limb kinematics for the level turning maneuver are replicated by Finnegan, and turning rates comparable to those of the turtle are achieved. Foil kinematics which produce approximately sinusoidal nominal angle of attack trace are shown to improve turning performance by as much as 25%; the effect is achieved despite limited knowledge of the flow field. Finally, tests with a single foil are used to demonstrate that biomimetically inspired inline motion can allow oscillating foils utilizing a power/recovery style stroke to generate as much as 90% of the thrust from a power/power stroke style motion."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Biomimetic oscillating foil propulsion to enhance underwater vehicle agility and maneuverability"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Michael Triantafyllou."],"dc:contributor.department":["Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering.","Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.","Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering."],"dc:contributor.other":["Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution."],"dc:creator":["Licht, Stephen Carl"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2009-03-16T19:44:58Z"],"dc:date.available":["2009-03-16T19:44:58Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2008"],"dc:description":["Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-216).","Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2008."],"dc:description.abstract":["Inspired by the swimming abilities of marine animals, this thesis presents \"Finnegan the RoboTurtle\", an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) powered entirely by four flapping foils. Biomimetic actuation is shown to produce dramatic improvements in AUV maneuvering at cruising speeds, while simultaneously allowing for agility at low speeds. Using control algorithms linear in the modified Rodrigues parameters to support large angle maneuvers, the vehicle is successfully controlled in banked and twisting turns, exceeding the best reported AUV turning performance by more than a factor of two; a minimum turning radius of 0.7BL, and the ability to avoid walls detected > 1.8BL ahead, are found for cruising speeds of 0.75BL/s, with a maximum heading rate of 400/s recorded. Observations of \"Myrtle\", a 250kg Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) at the New England Aquarium, are detailed; along with steady swimming, Myrtle is observed performing 1800 level turns and rapidly actuating pitch to control depth and speed. Limb kinematics for the level turning maneuver are replicated by Finnegan, and turning rates comparable to those of the turtle are achieved. Foil kinematics which produce approximately sinusoidal nominal angle of attack trace are shown to improve turning performance by as much as 25%; the effect is achieved despite limited knowledge of the flow field. Finally, tests with a single foil are used to demonstrate that biomimetically inspired inline motion can allow oscillating foils utilizing a power/recovery style stroke to generate as much as 90% of the thrust from a power/power stroke style motion."],"dc:description.degree":["Ph.D."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44800"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"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."],"dc:rights.uri":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"dc:subject":["Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.","Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering.","Mechanical Engineering."],"dc:title":["Biomimetic oscillating foil propulsion to enhance underwater vehicle agility and maneuverability"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:12Z"}