A Novel Degree of Freedom in Flapping Wings Shows Promise for a Dual Aerial/Aquatic Vehicle Propulsor
arXiv:1412.3843 · doi:10.1109/ICRA.2015.7140015
Abstract
Ocean sampling for highly temporal phenomena, such as harmful algal blooms, necessitates a vehicle capable of fast aerial travel interspersed with an aquatic means of acquiring in-situ measurements. Vehicle platforms with this capability have yet to be widely adopted by the oceanographic community. Several animal examples successfully make this aerial/aquatic transition using a flapping foil actuator, offering an existence proof for a viable vehicle design. We discuss a preliminary realization of a flapping wing actuation system for use in both air and water. The wing employs an active in-line motion degree of freedom to generate the large force envelope necessary for propulsion in both fluid media.
Accepted version of paper for ICRA 2015, 8 pages, 9 figures; Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 5830 - 5837, Seattle WA, 2015