After engineers and scientists at Virginia
Tech, Harvard, and Drexel finish studying the locomotion of fish in water,
Michael Phelps may find he still has a few new ways to increase his own world
record-breaking Olympic times.
 | | Michael Philen
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The remarkable ability of fish to maneuver in tight places, to hover in one
area efficiently, or to accelerate in a seemingly effortless fashion has researchers
wondering if they can create smarter materials that emulate the biology of these
vertebrates.
With an eye toward homeland defense needs, engineers have also noted that fish
are able to sense very small changes in their watery environment through neuromasts,
or hairs, in the lateral line. This allows them to detect and track prey and
to form hydrodynamic images of their environment.
Michael Philen, assistant professor of aerospace and ocean engineering in the
College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has pulled together a team of researchers
to study these abilities and hopefully develop biologically inspired material
systems that have hierarchically structured sensing, actuation, and intelligent
control. This research will lead to state-of-the-art advanced materials that
can intelligently sense and actuate a network of distributed robust sensors
and actuators.
Philen has prior experience in this area. As a post doctoral researcher at
The Pennsylvania State University, he spent time on a three-year project with
the Defense Army Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a new structure/actuation
system inspired by the mechanical, chemical, and electrical properties of plants.
Philen’s proposal to the National Science Foundation’s Emerging
Frontiers in Research and Innovation program to study fish to create smarter
materials has received $1.95 million in funding. Philen’s co-principal
investigators are Virginia Tech’s Harry Dorn, professor of chemistry;
and Don Leo, associate dean of engineering. George Lauder, a professor of biology
at Harvard; and James Tangorra, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering
and mechanics at Drexel, round out the team.
Working together, the team will develop distributed sensors and actuators using
nanotechnology, advanced composite technology, and smart polymeric materials
for understanding the organization and structure of the control systems fish
use for sensing and maneuvering.
With the inclusion of Harvard University, the research team says they also
plan to develop a traveling exhibit on robotic fish that showcases the biology
of aquatic propulsion, new actuator and sensing technologies, and how these
can be integrated to design a robotic fish. Harvard’s Museum of Natural
History, with its links to “Kids and Families” and “Educators,”
receives some 33,000 school-aged visitors each year. They will have access to
the robotic fish exhibit online through this site.
Lisa McNair of Virginia Tech’s engineering education department, an expert
on applying theories of interdisciplinary collaboration in research and teaching
practices, will work with the Harvard Museum to assess the impact on the students’
understanding of the biological mechanisms that allow fish to sense, swim, and
maneuver efficiently with minimal processing.
Philen explained that over the past 20 years experts such as Lauder have investigated
a number of aspects of fish control systems for movement. These studies have
shown that fish possess a two-gear muscular system that controls movement. One
gear is for slow-speed movement and the other is for rapid movements and escape
responses.
“Despite this progress, there is still very little understanding of the
structure and organization of the hierarchical control systems in fish or how
the actuation and sensing systems are integrated to perform steady and maneuvering
locomotor tasks,” Philen said. “Researchers have explored various
system identification techniques for characterizing and understanding a number
of biological systems, such as insect walking, renal autoregulation in rats,
and locomotor oscillators in the spinal cords of lampreys. However, little or
no research has been done on the hierarchal control systems found in fish.”
The team of researchers plans to create a robotic fish-like underwater vehicle
by integrating their biological investigations of the fish with engineering
knowledge about sensors and actuators. “We view this as an exciting opportunity
to create a transformative leap in the development of new biologically inspired
material systems,” Philen said.
Posted September 1st, 2009
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