CAREER: Modeling and Control of Undulating-Fin Underwater Vessels in Close Formation

该学院早期职业发展计划（Career）项目将研究配备生物启发鳍推进系统的水下航行器。所研究的具体配置包括沿飞行器长度运行的单个波动鳍，它控制向前运动和方向机动。该项目将首先使用分析、计算和实验研究来描述鳍的形状和运动与单个船只的运动之间的关系。然后，这些结果将扩展到由多艘船只组成的编队。特别令人感兴趣的是，编队可以充分利用每艘船的波动鳍的控制输入，以提高集体机动性和效率，并改变远场尾流模式。该项目的研究结果将适用于其他相关的波动推进和控制配置。这些多智能体水下系统的发展将使国家在科学和经济上受益，通过有效和通用的操作来勘探资源和进行海洋观测，而对水下环境的干扰最小。这些系统对国防也很重要，因为它们能够长距离飞行，同时执行多个独立任务，并控制其声学特征。工程专业代表性不足的群体——尤其是西班牙裔学生——将被招募到这个项目中，从而增加工程专业学生群体和未来美国劳动力的多样性。本研究项目将研究一类波浪鳍水下航行器，包括单个和集体，从而了解水动力相互作用如何影响船只和编队的速度，尾迹特征，能量效率和机动性。至关重要的是，每种药剂都应充分利用系统内部以及与周围流体环境的水动力相互作用。研究计划的目标包括：(i)测量单个和多个船只的动力和尾流；（ii）建立系统的动态模型；（iii）建立一个控制模型，将鳍的运动学参数与船舶的运动联系起来；（四）研究一组仿生水下航行器的性能和水动力相互作用。该研究将结合实验工作和建模，使用一种具有波动鳍推进的新型仿生船。这些方法将包括运动学、流体动力、流场和功耗的测量。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) project will study underwater vehicles equipped with a bio-inspired fin-based propulsion system. The specific configuration under study consists of a single undulating fin running along the length of the vehicle, which controls both forward motion and directional maneuvers. The project will first use analytical, computational, and experimental studies to describe how the fin shape and motion relates to the movement of a single vessel. Those results will then be extended to cooperative groups of multiple vessels traveling in formation. Of particular interest are the ways in which formations can make full use of the control inputs available from each vessel's undulating fin to improve collective maneuverability and efficiency, and to alter far-field wake patterns. The results of the project will be applicable to other related undulating propulsion and control configurations. The development of these multi-agent underwater systems will benefit the nation scientifically and economically, by allowing efficient and versatile operation to explore for resources and perform oceanographic observations, with minimal disturbance to the underwater environment. These systems will also be important to the nation's defense, due to their ability to travel long distances, perform multiple simultaneous independent tasks, and control their acoustic signature. Groups underrepresented in engineering -- in particular Hispanic students -- will be recruited for this project, thus increasing the diversity of the engineering student body and the future US workforce. This research project will investigate a class of undulating fin underwater vehicles, both singly and collectively, leading to understanding of how hydrodynamic interactions affect the speed, wake signature, energy efficiency, and maneuverability of the vessels and the formation. Critically, each agent should fully exploit hydrodynamic interaction within the system, and also with the surrounding fluid environment. The objectives of the research program include (i) measuring the dynamics and wake of single and multiple vessels; (ii) developing a dynamic model of the system; (iii) establishing a control model relating parameters in the fin kinematics to the motion of the vessel; (iv) studying the performance and hydrodynamic interaction of an array of bio-inspired underwater vessels. The research will combine experimental work and modeling using a novel bio-mimetic vessel with undulating fin propulsion. The methods will include measurements of kinematics, hydrodynamic forces, flow fields and power consumption.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.