Synthetic Jet Propulsion for Small Underwater Vehicles
Abstract
This paper proposes a new synthetic jet actuation concept for small, low speed, highly maneuverable AUVs. Synthetic jet thrusters, which produce jets of vortex rings, are inspired by the pulsatile jet propulsion of salps, jellyfish, and squid. To assess the potential utility of this scheme, we developed synthetic jet actuator prototypes, and verified their function via both force measurement and flow visualization experiments. We used a genetic-algorithm based technique for optimizing the actuation profile of the thrusters. Also presented is an initial discussion of vehicle design. Our conclusion is that synthetic jet thrusters are a viable propulsion method for small underwater vehicles.
Additional Information
© 2005 IEEE. Issue Date: 18-22 April 2005. Date of Current Version: 10 January 2006. This work could not have been accomplished without the assistance of Professor Mory Gharib of Caltech. We would like to thank Vicente Fernandez, Aimee Eddins, Jesse Escobeda, and Joanna Cohen for their work on designing and building the thrusters. John Dabiri provided help with the vortex modeling. The first author was supported by a Department of Defense fellowship. Partial support was also provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF9402726).Attached Files
Published - Thomas2005p96102008_Ieee_International_Conference_On_Robotics_And_Automation_Vols_1-9.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 25088
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20110825-091923300
- National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship
- NSF
- EEC-9402726
- Created
-
2011-08-26Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2023-03-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Series Name
- IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation