Abstract
The hydrodynamic control laws of unsteady fins inspired by swimming and flying animals are considered. A controller based on cycle-averaged forces requires a bandwidth lower than the flapping frequency, with correspondingly slow reactions to disturbances or commands in order to avoid undesirable feedback from the oscillating fins. A harmonic model of the periodic thruster forces was empirically found using a mechanical fin flapping in roll and pitch in hover, in uniform flow, and under various kinematic conditions. A multi-fin vehicle could use this model to account for the dominant non-linearities and minimize undesirable motions through coordinated control of individual fins.
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Acknowledgments
This work was sponsored by the Cognitive and Neuroscience Division of the Office of Naval Research (ONR 34, Program Officer Dr. Thomas McKenna) and the ONR/NUWC ILIR Program (Program Officer Mr. Richard Philips). Additionally, the authors would like to thank Dr. Alberico Menozzi and Mr. Henry Leinhos for discussions regarding the integration of the harmonic model into the NUWC biorobotic vehicle autopilot.
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Beal, D.N., Bandyopadhyay, P.R. A harmonic model of hydrodynamic forces produced by a flapping fin. Exp Fluids 43, 675–682 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-007-0352-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-007-0352-9