William Megill

Hydrodynamic pressure sensing with an artificial lateral line in steady and unsteady flows

With the overall goal being a better understanding of the sensing environment from the local perspective of a situated agent, we studied uniform flows and Kármán vortex streets in a frame of reference relevant to a fish or swimming robot. We visualized each flow regime with digital particle image velocimetry and then took local measurements using a rigid body with laterally distributed parallel pressure sensor arrays. Time and frequency domain methods were used to characterize hydrodynamically relevant scenarios in steady and unsteady flows for control applications. Here we report that a distributed pressure sensing mechanism has the capability to discriminate Kármán vortex streets from uniform flows, and determine the orientation and position of the platform with respect to the incoming flow and the centre axis of the Kármán vortex street. It also enables the computation of hydrodynamic features which may be relevant for a robot while interacting with the flow, such as vortex shedding frequency, vortex travelling speed and downstream distance between vortices. A Kármán vortex street was distinguished in this study from uniform flows by analysing the magnitude of fluctuations present in the sensor measurements and the number of sensors detecting the same dominant frequency. In the Kármán vortex street the turbulence intensity was 30% higher than that in the uniform flow and the sensors collectively sensed the vortex shedding frequency as the dominant frequency. The position and orientation of the sensor platform were determined via a comparative analysis between laterally distributed sensor arrays; the vortex travelling speed was estimated via a cross-correlation analysis among the sensors.

TITAN: a conducting polymer based microfluidic pump

The electromechanical actuation properties of polypyrrole have been utilized in the design and development of a low voltage fluid movement system for microfluidic channels. A confined concentric arrangement of polypyrrole actuators is used to induce fluid movement through an inner channel in a single unit. Series connection of these units and appropriate electrical connection/stimulation induces a novel peristaltic action that enables fluids to be pumped in a predetermined direction. Flow rates of up to 2.5 µl min−1 can be achieved against a back pressure of 50 mbar, which is sufficient to enable fluid movement in a glass capillary channel (diameter: 266 µm, length: 12.8 cm). The mechanism of fluid movement enables the use of low voltage devices (1 V) to drive fluid with an average power requirement of 8.7 mW.

The modulus of elasticity of fibrillin-containing elastic fibres in the mesoglea of the hydromedusa Polyorchis penicillatus.

SUMMARY Hydromedusan jellyfish swim by rhythmic pulsation of their mesogleal bells. A single swimming muscle contracts to create thrust by ejecting water from the subumbrellar cavity. At the end of the contraction, energy stored in the deformation of the mesogleal bell powers the refilling stage, during which water is sucked back into the subumbrellar cavity. The mesoglea is a mucopolysaccharide gel reinforced with radially oriented fibres made primarily of a protein homologous to mammalian fibrillin. Most of the energy required to power the refill stroke is thought to be stored by stretching these fibres. The elastic modulus of similar fibrillin-rich fibres has been measured in other systems and found to be in the range of 0.2 to 1.1 MPa. In this paper, we measured the diameters of the fibres, their density throughout the bell, and the mechanical behaviour of the mesoglea, both in isolated samples and in an intact bell preparation. Using this information, we calculated the stiffness of the fibres of the hydromedusa Polyorchis penicillatus, which we found to be approximately 0.9 MPa, similar in magnitude to other species. This value is two orders of magnitude more compliant than the stiffness of the component fibrillin microfibrils previously reported. We show that the structure of the radial fibres can be modelled as a parallel fibre-reinforced composite and reconcile the stiffness difference by reinterpreting the previously reported data. We separate the contributions to the bell elasticity of the fibres and mesogleal matrix and calculate the energy storage capacity of the fibres using the calculated value of their stiffness and measured densities and diameters. We conclude that there is enough energy potential in the fibres alone to account for the energy required to refill the subumbrellar cavity.

Take-off and landing forces and the evolution of controlled gliding in northern flying squirrels Glaucomys sabrinus.

SUMMARY Flying squirrels are well known for their ability to glide between trees at the top of a forest canopy. We present experimental performance and behavioural evidence that flight in flying squirrels may have evolved out of a need to control landing forces. Northern flying squirrels were filmed jumping from a horizontal branch to a much larger vertical pole. These were both slightly compliant (less than 1.9 mm N–1), and instrumented using strain gauges so that forces could be measured. Take-off and landing forces were both positively correlated with horizontal range between 0.5 and 2.5 m (r=0.355 and r=0.811, respectively, P<0.05), but not significantly different to each other at each range tested. Take-off forces ranged from 1 to 10 bodyweights, and landing forces were between 3 and 10 bodyweights. Glide angles increased rapidly with horizontal range, approaching 45° at 3 m, above which they gradually decreased, suggesting that northern flying squirrels are optimised for long distance travel. We show that northern flying squirrels initiate full gliding posture at ranges of less than 1 m, without landing any higher than an equivalent ballistic projectile. However, this gliding posture enables them to pitch upwards, potentially stalling the wing, and spreads the landing reaction force over all four extended limbs. At steeper approach angles of close to 45°, flying squirrels were unable to pitch up sufficiently and landed forelimbs first, consequently sustaining higher impact forces. We investigate four hypotheses to explain the origin of flight in these animals and conclude that the need to reduce landing impact forces was most likely to have stimulated the development of aerial control in flying squirrels.

A fish perspective: detecting flow features while moving using an artificial lateral line in steady and unsteady flow

For underwater vehicles to successfully detect and navigate turbulent flows, sensing the fluid interactions that occur is required. Fish possess a unique sensory organ called the lateral line. Sensory units called neuromasts are distributed over their body, and provide fish with flow-related information. In this study, a three-dimensional fish-shaped head, instrumented with pressure sensors, was used to investigate the pressure signals for relevant hydrodynamic stimuli to an artificial lateral line system. Unsteady wakes were sensed with the objective to detect the edges of the hydrodynamic trail and then explore and characterize the periodicity of the vorticity. The investigated wakes (Kármán vortex streets) were formed behind a range of cylinder diameter sizes (2.5, 4.5 and 10 cm) and flow velocities (9.9, 19.6 and 26.1 cm s−1). Results highlight that moving in the flow is advantageous to characterize the flow environment when compared with static analysis. The pressure difference from foremost to side sensors in the frontal plane provides us a useful measure of transition from steady to unsteady flow. The vortex shedding frequency (VSF) and its magnitude can be used to differentiate the source size and flow speed. Moreover, the distribution of the sensing array vertically as well as the laterally allows the Kármán vortex paired vortices to be detected in the pressure signal as twice the VSF.

FILOSE for Svenning: A Flow Sensing Bioinspired Robot

The trend of biomimetic underwater robots has emerged as a search for an alternative to traditional propeller-driven underwater vehicles. The drive of this trend, as in any other areas of bioinspired and biomimetic robotics, is the belief that exploiting solutions that evolution has already optimized leads to more advanced technologies and devices. In underwater robotics, bioinspired design is expected to offer more energy-efficient, highly maneuverable, agile, robust, and stable underwater robots. The 30,000 fish species have inspired roboticists to mimic tuna [1], rays [2], boxfish [3], eels [4], and others. The development of the first commercialized fish robot Ghostswimmer by Boston Engineering and the development of fish robots for field trials with specific applications in mind (http://www.roboshoal. com) mark a new degree of maturity of this engineering discipline after decades of laboratory trials.

Modelling of a biologically inspired robotic fish driven by compliant parts

Inspired by biological swimmers such as fish, a robot composed of a rigid head, a compliant body and a rigid caudal fin was built. It has the geometrical properties of a subcarangiform swimmer of the same size. The head houses a servo-motor which actuates the compliant body and the caudal fin. It achieves this by applying a concentrated moment on a point near the compliant body base. In this paper, the dynamics of the compliant body driving the robotic fish is modelled and experimentally validated. Lighthills elongated body theory is used to define the hydrodynamic forces on the compliant part and Rayleigh proportional damping is used to model damping. Based on the assumed modes method, an energetic approach is used to write the equations of motion of the compliant body and to compute the relationship between the applied moment and the resulting lateral deflections. Experiments on the compliant body were carried out to validate the model predictions. The results showed that a good match was achieved between the measured and predicted deformations. A discussion of the swimming motions between the real fish and the robot is presented.

What information do Karman streets offer to flow sensing

In this work, we focus on biomimetic lateral line sensing in Kármán vortex streets. After generating a Kármán street in a controlled environment, we examine the hydrodynamic images obtained with digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV). On the grounds that positioning in the flow and interaction with the vortices govern bio-inspired underwater locomotion, we inspect the fluid in the swimming robot frame of reference. We spatially subsample the flow field obtained using DPIV to emulate the local flow around the body. In particular, we look at various sensor configurations in order to reliably identify the vortex shedding frequency, wake wavelength and downstream flow speed. Moreover, we propose methods that differentiate between being in and out of the Kármán street with >70% accuracy, distinguish right from left with respect to Kármán vortex street centreline (>80%) and highlight when the sensor system enters the vortex formation zone (>75%). Finally, we present a method that estimates the relative position of a sensor array with respect to the vortex formation point within 15% error margin.

Biomimetic mechanical design for soft-bodied underwater vehicles

This paper describes a biomimetic underwater fish robot prototype and its design methodology. The key question directing our design is the transfer of functionality from fish to a fish robot with respect to efficient mobility. We want to minimize mechanical complexity and achieve a low-cost fabrication. We argue for the case of morphological computation, i.e. achieving high mobility and efficiency by duplicating fish physical body structure. In this way, a possibly large part of the fish motion ability is outsourced to the embodiment, i.e. achieved by the interaction of the fish body parts and the water flow. This approach makes us focus on the material properties of a compliant tail propulsion mechanism. The tail is actuated by a single motor and we want to make it efficient by exploiting the energy propagation from the body to the surrounding fluid. We explain our design constraints, material choices and describe the design process. We draw conclusions about the relevance of our design parameters and design choices.

Parylene conformal coating encapsulation as a method for advanced tuning of mechanical properties of an artificial hair cell

A soft Parylene conformal coating encapsulation is demonstrated to be an efficient method to control the mechanical and sensory properties of a bioinspired artificial hair cell, tuning the mechanoreceptive responsivity from a sub-linear to a super-linear behaviour such as hair cells adapt to a natural environment.