New Insights into Sea Turtle Propulsion and Their Cost of Transport Point to a Potential New Generation of High-Efficient Underwater Drones for Ocean Exploration

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aut.relation.articlenumber1944
aut.relation.endpage1944
aut.relation.issue10
aut.relation.journalJournal of Marine Science and Engineering
aut.relation.startpage1944
aut.relation.volume11
dc.contributor.authorvan der Geest, Nick
dc.contributor.authorGarcia, Lorenzo
dc.contributor.authorNates, Roy
dc.contributor.authorBorrett, Fraser
dc.date.accessioned2023-10-16T23:08:29Z
dc.date.available2023-10-16T23:08:29Z
dc.date.issued2023-10-09
dc.description.abstractSea turtles gracefully navigate their marine environments by flapping their pectoral flippers in an elegant routine to produce the required hydrodynamic forces required for locomotion. The propulsion of sea turtles has been shown to occur for approximately 30% of the limb beat, with the remaining 70% employing a drag-reducing glide. However, it is unknown how the sea turtle manipulates the flow during the propulsive stage. Answering this research question is a complicated process, especially when conducting laboratory tests on endangered animals, and the animal may not even swim with its regular routine while in a captive state. In this work, we take advantage of our robotic sea turtle, internally known as Cornelia, to offer the first insights into the flow features during the sea turtle’s propulsion cycle consisting of the downstroke and the sweep stroke. Comparing the flow features to the animal’s swim speed, flipper angle of attack, power consumption, thrust and lift production, we hypothesise how each of the flow features influences the animal’s propulsive efforts and cost of transport (COT). Our findings show that the sea turtle can produce extremely low COT values that point to the effectiveness of the sea turtle propulsive technique. Based on our findings, we extract valuable data that can potentially lead to turtle-inspired elements for high-efficiency underwater drones for long-term underwater missions.
dc.identifier.citationJournal of Marine Science and Engineering, ISSN: 2077-1312 (Print); 2077-1312 (Online), MDPI AG, 11(10), 1944-1944. doi: 10.3390/jmse11101944
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/jmse11101944
dc.identifier.issn2077-1312
dc.identifier.issn2077-1312
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10292/16790
dc.languageen
dc.publisherMDPI AG
dc.relation.urihttps://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/11/10/1944
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccess
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject4015 Maritime Engineering
dc.subject40 Engineering
dc.subject0405 Oceanography
dc.subject0704 Fisheries Sciences
dc.subject0911 Maritime Engineering
dc.subject3005 Fisheries sciences
dc.subject3709 Physical geography and environmental geoscience
dc.subject4015 Maritime engineering
dc.titleNew Insights into Sea Turtle Propulsion and Their Cost of Transport Point to a Potential New Generation of High-Efficient Underwater Drones for Ocean Exploration
dc.typeJournal Article
pubs.elements-id526650
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