Materials and Technology Center of RoboticsOpen OpportunitiesUnderwater gliders rely on their wings to convert vertical motion, induced by variable buoyancy, into forward motion. No active propulsion, such as propellers, is required. Wing efficiency, or lift-to-drag ratio, is a key parameter in enhancing the vehicle’s performance. In order to reduce the mechanical complexity, underwater gliders have no control surfaces, but at the cost of diminished maneuverability. Wings capable of changing shape would be able to adapt to encountered gliding conditions. Therefore, their efficiency would be optimized, and the operational range of the underwater vehicle extended [4]. Over the last years, actuators based on soft elastomers have contributed to the field of robotics, providing greater adaptability, improving collision resilience, and enabling shape-morphing. The Laboratory of Sustainability Robotics and its research partners designed a soft wing for integration into an underwater glider. The morphing ability and the efficiency of this wing have been characterized though experiments in the water channel testing facility at Empa and are discussed in a recent journal publication [1]. Currently, the soft wing awaits completion of a Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) simulation to provide better insights on its deformation and efficiency. - Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
- Master Thesis
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