Developing a Morphing Fin for a Biomimetic Underwater Vehicle

Myliobatidae is a family of large pelagic rays including cownose, eagle and manta rays. They are extremely efficient swimmers, can cruise at high speeds and can perform turn-on-a-dime maneuvering, making these fishes excellent inspiration for an autonomous underwater vehicle. A synthetic pectoral fin, similar to the fins of myliobatoid rays, is being developed using a tensegrity structural foundation. A tensegrity structure is a truss-like structure composed of cables and struts that only has a stable shape from an imposed state of pre-stress in the structure. Actuation strategies for these contemporary structures have been identified. Theoretical models have been developed to be able to design structures using any of the actuation strategies. Specifically, the models investigate pre-stress states, mechanisms, stability, actuation response and loading response of the structures.