Exploration of drag reduction in soft robots - an Emperor Penguin inspired exit strategy
The rise of soft robots poses a promising revolution across a variety of fields, such as invasive surgical procedures or aquatic animal monitoring and sampling, by providing a softer solution to delicate problems. However, with their youth comes a need for growth, particularly in regard to increasin...
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ftbostonuniv:oai:open.bu.edu:2144/42612 2023-05-15T16:06:00+02:00 Exploration of drag reduction in soft robots - an Emperor Penguin inspired exit strategy Thelen, Joanna Ranzani, Tommaso 2021-05-15T07:03:56Z https://hdl.handle.net/2144/42612 en_US eng https://hdl.handle.net/2144/42612 orcid:0000-0003-0786-6782 Engineering Actuator Air-water interface Boundary layer Bubbles Buoyancy Leap Thesis/Dissertation 2021 ftbostonuniv 2022-07-11T12:16:10Z The rise of soft robots poses a promising revolution across a variety of fields, such as invasive surgical procedures or aquatic animal monitoring and sampling, by providing a softer solution to delicate problems. However, with their youth comes a need for growth, particularly in regard to increasing mobility in aquatic environments seeing as motion is often slow and belabored. Additionally, exit strategies in breaking the air-water interface are not thoroughly explored to date. To address these challenges, this study looks to bioinspiration for the answer in the form of Emperor Penguins. By utilizing microbubbles in their plumage to decrease drag forces on their bodies, Emperor Penguins are able to propel themselves out of the water to heights not theoretically achievable through buoyancy alone. Not only is the strategy highly effective, it lends well to the soft robotic field as pneumatic actuation is a commonly used mechanism of locomotion. To explore this behavior and simulate its effects, this study tests a hollow silicone ellipsoid with hole punctures applied to its surface for microbubble release. Bubble characteristics such as separation point, bubble diameter, and downstream bubble expansion were monitored when subjected to a fluid flow to determine ideal air pressure through the ellipsoid body. Drag reduction is tested by measuring the robot’s leap height out of the water. Thesis Emperor penguins Boston University: OpenBU Separation Point ENVELOPE(-93.468,-93.468,75.135,75.135) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Boston University: OpenBU |
op_collection_id |
ftbostonuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Engineering Actuator Air-water interface Boundary layer Bubbles Buoyancy Leap |
spellingShingle |
Engineering Actuator Air-water interface Boundary layer Bubbles Buoyancy Leap Thelen, Joanna Exploration of drag reduction in soft robots - an Emperor Penguin inspired exit strategy |
topic_facet |
Engineering Actuator Air-water interface Boundary layer Bubbles Buoyancy Leap |
description |
The rise of soft robots poses a promising revolution across a variety of fields, such as invasive surgical procedures or aquatic animal monitoring and sampling, by providing a softer solution to delicate problems. However, with their youth comes a need for growth, particularly in regard to increasing mobility in aquatic environments seeing as motion is often slow and belabored. Additionally, exit strategies in breaking the air-water interface are not thoroughly explored to date. To address these challenges, this study looks to bioinspiration for the answer in the form of Emperor Penguins. By utilizing microbubbles in their plumage to decrease drag forces on their bodies, Emperor Penguins are able to propel themselves out of the water to heights not theoretically achievable through buoyancy alone. Not only is the strategy highly effective, it lends well to the soft robotic field as pneumatic actuation is a commonly used mechanism of locomotion. To explore this behavior and simulate its effects, this study tests a hollow silicone ellipsoid with hole punctures applied to its surface for microbubble release. Bubble characteristics such as separation point, bubble diameter, and downstream bubble expansion were monitored when subjected to a fluid flow to determine ideal air pressure through the ellipsoid body. Drag reduction is tested by measuring the robot’s leap height out of the water. |
author2 |
Ranzani, Tommaso |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Thelen, Joanna |
author_facet |
Thelen, Joanna |
author_sort |
Thelen, Joanna |
title |
Exploration of drag reduction in soft robots - an Emperor Penguin inspired exit strategy |
title_short |
Exploration of drag reduction in soft robots - an Emperor Penguin inspired exit strategy |
title_full |
Exploration of drag reduction in soft robots - an Emperor Penguin inspired exit strategy |
title_fullStr |
Exploration of drag reduction in soft robots - an Emperor Penguin inspired exit strategy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Exploration of drag reduction in soft robots - an Emperor Penguin inspired exit strategy |
title_sort |
exploration of drag reduction in soft robots - an emperor penguin inspired exit strategy |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/2144/42612 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-93.468,-93.468,75.135,75.135) |
geographic |
Separation Point |
geographic_facet |
Separation Point |
genre |
Emperor penguins |
genre_facet |
Emperor penguins |
op_relation |
https://hdl.handle.net/2144/42612 orcid:0000-0003-0786-6782 |
_version_ |
1766401911147200512 |