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A
bluegill sunfish swims in an MIT laboratory tank close to
a prototype of a
robotic fin designed with the fish's fin as a guide. Photo
: Donna Coveney.
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Inspired by the efficient swimming motion of the
bluegill sunfish, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers
are building a mechanical fin that could one day propel fish-like
robotic submarines.
Current propeller-driven submarines, or autonomous
underwater vehicles (AUVs), perform a variety of functions, from
mapping the ocean floor to surveying shipwrecks. But the MIT team
hopes to create a faster, more agile, propellerless underwater robot
better suited for military tasks such as sweeping mines and inspecting
harbors; and for that they are trying to mimic the action of the
bluegill sunfish.
"If we could produce AUVs that can hover and
turn and store energy and do all the things a fish does, they'll
be much better than the remotely operated vehicles we have now,"
said James Tangorra, an MIT researcher.
The researchers chose to copy the bluegill sunfish
because of its distinctive swimming motion, which results in a constant
forward thrust with no backward drag. In contrast, a human performing
the breaststroke inevitably experiences drag during the recovery
phase of the stroke. |
