First Recorded Account of a White Shark Agonistic Pectoral Fin Depression Behavior at Guadalupe Island, Mexico

An agonistic display by a white shark was observed and photographed during a cage dive at Guadalupe Island in November 2015. Exhibiting exaggerated pectoral fin depression, agonistic behaviors have been previously observed and described in several shark species. This account may be the first record of a white shark in close proximity to a caged diver, exhibiting strong pectoral fin depression significantly dipped, in the mid-agonistic display. Such displays should be considered as aggressive and potentially life-threatening by those using the ocean for recreational or professional purposes.

Design and Implementation of Paired Pectoral Fins Locomotion of Labriform Fish Applied to a Fish Robot

In present,there are increasing interests in the research on mechanical and control system of underwater vehicles.These ongoing research efforts are motivated by more pervasive applications of such vehicles including seabed oil and gas explorations, scientific deep ocean surveys,military purposes,ecological and water environmental studies,and also entertainments. However,the performance of underwater vehicles with screw type propellers is not prospective in terms of its efficiency and maneuverability.The main weaknesses of this kind of propellers are the production of vortices and sudden generation of thrust forces which make the control of the position and motion difficult. On the other hand,fishes and other aquatic animals are efficient swimmers,posses high maneuverability,are able to follow trajectories,can efficiently stabilize themselves in currents and surges,create less wakes than currently used underwater vehicle, and also have a noiseless propulsion.The fish's locomotion mechanism is mainly controlled by its caudal fin and paired pectoral fins.They are classified into Body and/or Caudal Fin(BCF)and Median and/or paired Pectoral Fins(MPF).The study of highly efficient swimming mechanisms of fish can inspire a better underwater vehicles thruster design and its mechanism. There are few studies on underwater vehicles or fish robots using paired pectoral fins as thruster.The work presented in this paper represents a contribution in this area covering study,design and implementation of locomotion mechanisms of paired pectoral fins in a fish robot.The performance and viability of the biomimetic method for underwater vehicles are highlighted through in-water experiment of a robotic fish.

Experimental and Numerical Study on Pectoral-Fin Propulsive System

Generally the underwater bio-robots take the tail fin as propulsor, and combined with pectoral fin they can manoeuvre agilely and control their position and movement at will. In nature, a lot of fishes realize to suspend itself in water to go forward and to move back up by the pectoral fin moving complexly. So that it is significant theoretically and valuable for practical application to investigate the propulsive principle and hydrodynamic performance of pectoral fin, and find the method utilizing the pectoral fin to manoeuvre the underwater bio-robot agilely. In this paper, a two degree of freedom （DoF） motion model is established for a rigid pectoral fin, and the hydrodynamic performances of the pectoral fin are studied by use of the pectoral fin propulsive experimental platform developed by Harbin Engineering University, simultaneously the hydrodynamic performance of the pectoral fin is analyzed when some parameters change. Then, through the secondary development of FLUENT （CFD code） software, the hydrodynamic performances of rigid pectoral fin in viscous flows are calculated and the results are compared with the latest experimental results. The research in this paper will provide the theoretical reference for the design of the manoeuvring system imitating pectoral fin, at the same time will become the foundation for the development of the small underwater bio-robot.

Principle and Experimental Verification of Caudal-fin-type Piezoelectric-stack Pump with Variable-cross-section Oscillating Vibrator

In the traditional flow-resistance-differential (FRD) type valve-less piezoelectric pump, the generated outflow and pressure are discontinuous because of the inherent periodicity and fluctuation of the pump. To overcome these drawbacks, utilizing the bending vibration of piezoelectric bimorph to drive fluid was conducted. However, our investigation on the current status of this piezoelectric bimorph pump shows that larger driving force and vibration amplitude are required for fluid pumping; the pumping can be realized through the centrifugal force; and the mechanism of fluid pumping is no longer further studied. Based on these cases, the paper designed a piezoelectric-stack pump with variable-cross-section oscillating (VCSO) vibrator by imitating the swing of the caudal-fin of tuna, and the pump is neither the rotating type nor the volumetric type according to the taxonomy. The interaction between the oscillating vibrator and the fluid parcel is firstly analyzed from the viewpoint of momentum conservation, and the analytical expression of pump flow rate is obtained. Then the modal and harmonic response analyses on the vibrator immerged in water are carried out. From the analyses the first two orders resonance frequencies are 832 Hz and 1 939 Hz, respectively, and the peak value of the tip amplitude is 0.6 mm. Laser Doppler vibrometer is used to measure both the frequency and vibration amplitude, and the determined first two orders resonance frequencies are 617 Hz and 1 356 Hz, respectively. The measured tip amplitude reaches to the peak value of 0.3 mm. At last, experimental measurement for the flow rates with different driving frequencies is conducted. The results show that the flow rate can reach 560 mL/min at 1 370 Hz when the pump runs under the backpressure of 30 mm water column. And the flow rate is as much as 560% of that of experiment results carried out by researchers from Brazil. The proposed pump innovates in both theory and taxonomy; in addition, the pump overcomes the drawbacks such as large flow fluctuation and low flow rate in the traditional FRD type pumps, which will help to broaden the application of the valve-less piezoelectric pump.

Effect of Active–Passive Deformation on the Thrust by the Pectoral Fins of Bionic Manta Robot

Bionic manta underwater vehicles will play an essential role in future oceans and can perform tasks,such as long-duration reconnaissance and exploration,due to their efficient propulsion.The manta wings’deformation is evident during the swimming process.To improve the propulsion performance of the unmanned submersible,the study of the deformation into the bionic pectoral fin is necessary.In this research,we designed and fabricated a flexible bionic pectoral fin,which is based on the Fin Ray®effect with active and passive deformation(APD)capability.The APD fin was actively controlled by two servo motors and could be passively deformed to variable degrees.The APD fin was moved at 0.5 Hz beat frequency,and the propulsive performance was experimentally verified of the bionic pectoral fins equipped with different extents of deformation.These results showed that the pectoral fin with active–passive deformed capabilities could achieve similar natural biological deformation in the wingspan direction.The average thrust(T)under the optimal wingspan deformation is 61.5%higher than the traditional passive deformed pectoral fins.The obtained results shed light on the design and optimization of the bionic pectoral fins to improve the propulsive performance of unmanned underwater vehicles(UUV).

Modelling of thrust generated by oscillation caudal fin of underwater bionic robot

A simplified model of the thrust force is proposed based on a caudal fin oscillation of an underwater bionic robot. The caudal fin oscillation is generalized by cen- tral pattern generators （CPGs）. In this model, the drag coefficient and lift coefficient are the two critical parameters which are obtained by the digital particle image velocimetry （DPIV） and the force transducer experiment. Numerical simulation and physical experi- ments have been performed to verify this dynamic model.

Kinematics Modeling and Experiments of Pectoral Oscillation Propulsion Robotic Fish

A robotic fish driven by oscillating fins, 'Cownose Ray-I', is developed, which is in dorsoventrally flattened shape without a tail. The robotic fish is composed of a body and two lateral fins. A three-factor kinematic model is established and used in the design of a mechanism. By controlling the three kinematic parameters, the robotic fish can accelerate and maneuver. Forward velocity is dependent on the largest amplitude and the number of waves in the fins, while the relative contribution of fin beat frequency to the forward velocity of the robotic fish is different from the usual result. On the other hand, experimental results on maneuvering show that phase difference has a stronger effect on swerving than the largest amplitude to some extent. In addition, as propulsion waves pass from the trailing edge to the leading edge, the robotic fish attains a backward velocity of 0. 15 m·s^(-1).

RNA-seq analysis of a zebrafish caudal fin cell line in response to infection with spring viraemia of carp virus

A cell line,termed ZFIN,was established from the caudal fin of zebrafish and was shown to be susceptible to spring viremia of carp virus(SVCV).The ZFIN cells are epithelial like cells and have a moderate plasmid transfection efficiency of 13.9%.Using an RNA-seq approach,differentially expressed genes(DEGs)regulated by SVCV were identified.Infection of SVCV gave rise to 3931 DEGs and up-regulated DEGs were mostly enriched into the biological regulation and cellular processes,among which pathways for the type I interferon signaling and the response to exogenous dsRNA were the top two GO terms.Several KEGG signaling pathways including TLR signaling pathway,RLR receptor signaling pathway,cytosolic DNA-sensing pathway,NLR signaling pathway,cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and ferroptosis were significantly enriched.Antiviral genes including ifnφ1,isg15 and mx were significantly up-regulated.In addition,key DEGs involved in autophagy were identified.The results indicate that the ZFIN cell line provides a useful in vitro tool for study on the gene functions and cellular responses to viral infection in fish.

基于CFD的仿生水动力学数值计算方法及其验证

鱼类经过长期的进化与自然选择,有着优异的水中游动能力,鱼类借助尾鳍能够进行快速高效的定向游动和快速启动/机动,借助胸鳍能够进行前进、后退和灵活的转向。本文基于计算流体力学(CFD)方法,给出适用于求解鱼类尾鳍/胸鳍的刚性运动以及身体躯干的柔性运动的网格划分策略,对仿生尾鳍、仿生胸鳍和仿生鱼在均匀来流中的水动力性能以及仿生鱼在静水中的自主游动进行数值计算。结果表明:基于CFD方法,采用结构与非结构混合的网格划分策略,应用动网格方法能够对仿生鱼的各类鳍及身体躯干的刚性或柔性运动进行有效的模拟,通过与实验结果进行对比,验证了对水动力性能求解的有效性。数值计算方法和验证算例对仿生水动力学的研究具有一定的理论参考意义。

尾鳍摆动推进水动力与流动涡结构特征分析

作为BCF(body-caudalfin)推进模式中的典型代表,金枪鱼游动快,是重要的仿生研究对象之一。本文基于弹性光顺模型和局部网格重构模型动网格技术,建立仿金枪鱼尾鳍摆动推进流场RANS数值计算及涡结构提取分析方法,通过网格无关性验证,并与其它研究结果的比较验证数值计算方法的有效性。对尾鳍摆动推进过程中主要涡结构的产生与演化研究表明,尾鳍摆动推进水动力由St数主控,尾流中环状涡结构呈“之”形交错分布,并且随着St数增加,涡结构逐渐从单列演变成双列,推力系数逐渐增大。

鱼类自主游动推进机理与游动性能二维数值模拟研究

推进机理及游动性能研究对鱼类洄游通道建设具有重要意义。利用计算流体动力学方法结合重叠网格技术,通过编译控制鱼体摆动的UDF程序,对二维鱼类自主游动进行模拟,分析鱼体压力场分布及反卡门涡街结构演化过程与参数变化情况,开展不同摆尾频率、摆尾幅度、鱼体体形及尾鳍尺寸等参数下鱼类游动性能及鱼体受力的变化情况,揭示鱼类自主游动过程中的游动机理。研究结果表明:(1)鱼体尾鳍周期性往复摆动下漩涡脱落形成反卡门涡街,是鱼体前进推力的主要来源,且随着摆尾频率、摆尾幅度的增加,鱼体尾部涡街长度、涡街强度逐渐增加,而摆尾幅度对涡街宽度的影响较大;(2)随着摆尾频率、摆尾幅度的增加,纵向平均合力系数和最大侧向力系数均增大,使得鱼类获得较大的游动速度,但摆尾频率改变时平均合力系数和游动速度的增加更为明显,摆尾幅度改变时最大侧向力系数的增加更为明显;(3)随着体宽指数的增加,纵向平均合力系数逐渐减小,需克服的游动阻力增加,使得鱼类游动速度逐渐减小,而最大侧向力系数逐渐增加;(4)随着尾鳍指数的增加,纵向平均合力系数和最大侧向力系数均增大,使得鱼类游动速度逐渐增大。研究成果可为鱼类生境恢复营造提供支撑。

仿牛鼻鲼机器鱼倒游性能胸鳍结构设计与实验

现有基于摆动胸鳍推进方式的机器鱼有很多突出特点,特别是前向游动稳定性,但倒游性能研究不足,因此文中针对性地讨论摆动胸鳍推进模式的仿牛鼻鲼机器鱼倒游水动力性能。分别设计了完整胸鳍结构与分体胸鳍结构,通过对比实验测试验证了分体胸鳍结构较完整胸鳍结构倒游推力的优越性,通过推力和电流的比值进一步分析能耗转化效率。实验研究了前游和倒游推力与幅值和频率变化之间的关系,并且通过采集的电流数据,整理出2种胸鳍结构在前游和倒游工况下的推力等效效率与幅值和频率变化关系曲线;分析了2种胸鳍结构产生推力及推力等效效率的原因。实验结果表明:前游工况下,2种胸鳍推力值接近,倒游工况下,随着幅值和频率的增加,分体胸鳍结构倒游推力增加明显,最大可达0.22 N;前游工况下,分体胸鳍结构推力等效效率较完整胸鳍稍差,倒游工况下,随着幅值和频率的增加,分体胸鳍结构倒游推力等效效率有显著提升。文中对分体胸鳍结构的设计为探究基于摆旋机构推进机器鱼倒游性能提供了参考。

仿牛鼻鳐机器鱼设计与分析

设计一种采用单电机驱动单侧胸鳍方式的牛鼻鳐机器鱼.根据牛鼻鳐身体结构和运动方式,设计长59.2 cm,宽73.6 cm,高15.6 cm的机器鱼,实现运动控制.进行运动控制分析,验证机器鱼的水平、垂直、转弯和滑翔运动.设计胸鳍鳍条运动仿真实验,验证机器鱼胸鳍鳍条弦向、展向和鳍尖运动规律.结果证明,机器鱼展向运动类似正弦规律且频率相同,弦向运动类似正弦规律且幅度相同,胸鳍鳍尖振幅为49.42°.分析和仿真表明机器鱼胸鳍的展向、弦向振动规律与牛鼻鳐胸鳍振动规律相似,能够实现滑翔功能,为进一步优化机器鱼模型和搭建机器鱼平台并进行水动力试验提供方向.

展向刚度对拍动式仿生胸鳍水动力性能影响的实验研究

[目的]旨在研究拍动式胸鳍沿翼展方向结构设计刚度对其水动力性能的影响。[方法]提出一种柔性仿生胸鳍的非均匀展向刚度设计方法。通过搭建的胸鳍水动力性能实验平台,测试0.3~1.0 Hz驱动频率下不同展向刚度仿生胸鳍拍动时产生的平均推进力与平均侧向力,并结合高速摄像机采集的胸鳍运动图像序列,分析仿生胸鳍展向变形对其产生推进力的影响。[结果]实验结果表明,在测试的拍动频率范围内,柔性仿生胸鳍产生的平均推进力及平均侧向力均与鳍条的展向刚度大小及分布情况相关。通过优化机器鱼样机(XJmanta)柔性仿生胸鳍的展向刚度可使其最大游动速度提升约45%。[结论]研究成果可用于指导拍动式柔性仿生胸鳍的设计,优化胸鳍输出水动力性能,提升仿生机器鱼本体游动时的机动性。

柔性尾鳍的形状对仿生机器鱼水动力学特性的影响研究

研究了仿生机器鱼不同形状柔性尾鳍的水动力学特性。根据仿生学观测结果,研制了4种形状的仿生机器鱼尾鳍,通过开展水动力学实验,对比分析了尾鳍外形、结构、材料和运动参数对水动力学参数的影响。结果表明,增大尾鳍的摆角幅度和摆动频率有利于提高推进力,但会引起游动的不稳定性;柔性强的新月形尾鳍具有较好的推进性能;展弦比越小的无鳍条尾鳍,高频游动性能越好,鳍条会降低尾鳍的高频游动性能。

胸尾鳍协同推进的仿生机器鱼设计

针对一种新型仿暗绿鲀机器人,以提高其机动性与优化外形为目的进行研究,设计具有双自由度胸鳍和二关节尾鳍的机器鱼。它的胸鳍对称地排列在两侧,可以做拍翼和摇翼两个自由度的运动,用于推进或其他目的,如转弯和潜水。最后,进行三组实验,研究机器鱼在三种不同推进模式下的游动性能,重点在于对胸尾鳍协同推进的研究。实验结果表明,尾鳍推进和胸鳍推进的游动速度与模型预测基本吻合。此外,单独使用尾鳍推进时,游速可达0.14 m/s;单独使用胸鳍推进时,游速可达0.04 m/s;胸鳍和尾鳍协同推进转弯时,最大游速可达0.19 m/s,最大转弯速度可达0.4 rad/s,此时转弯半径为0.15 m。

鱼类叉状尾鳍效率转捩点水动力性能研究

鲔科鱼类具有较高的游动速度和游动效率,因此成为了仿生机器鱼的理想生物原型。为了研究鲔科鱼类叉状尾鳍效率转捩点的水动力特征,针对推力和功耗的源项进行重点分析。尾鳍模型采用了相同的表面面积、展弦比和叉长。为了统一尾鳍形状的尺度,采用扫掠角用于表征不同的叉状尾鳍平面结构。研究发现鲔科鱼类尾鳍扫掠角的增加弱化了尾鳍的有效面积,导致了尾鳍摆动时推动流体向下游运动而受到的反作用力降低,因此尾鳍的推进能力也会随之衰退。另外,扫掠角的增加也引起了前缘涡强度的增加和前缘涡的发展,从而造成了更大的涡增推力。然而,过分增加扫掠角尽管存在功耗下降的优势,但也引起推力和水动力效率的下降,特别是对于高斯特劳哈尔数的情况。通过对推力的源项进行分析发现扫掠角对附加质量力和涡增推力存在相反的作用机制。

基于RBF神经网络滑模控制的双尾鳍机器鱼

为了开展水下探测,设计了一种双尾鳍水下机器鱼。由于其存在模型参数不确定性和复杂水波干扰,为了得到较好的控制效果,建立了带有参数不确定因子的动力学模型,并在此基础上设计了径向基函数(RBF)神经网络滑模控制器。利用Lyapunov函数证明了控制系统的稳定性。仿真结果表明:与传统的PID控制器相比,所设计的RBF神经网络滑模控制器对双尾鳍水下机器鱼模型参数变化不敏感,控制精度高,鲁棒性强。该方法为今后鳍驱动式水下机器人的设计及应用提供了参考。

HYDRODYNAMIC STUDY ON A PECTORAL FIN ROWING MODEL OF A FISH

Fish pectoral fin movement involves primarily a drag-based and a lift-based mechanisms to produce thrust. A numerical study on a pectoral fin rowing propulsion model based on the drag-based mechanism is presented in this article. The propulsive mechanism of the pectoral fin rowing model is related with the voriticity and pressure in the flow field. The relationship between the thrust and kinematic parameters and the wake-captured problem are analyzed. It is shown that a high thrust is produced in the power stroke, mainly due to the backward translation acceleration, the anticlockwise angular acceleration and the absence of stall in the uniform translation. Moreover, the flow control mechanism and the effect of dynamic flexible deformation are further analyzed. To properly choose controllable factors and adopt an appropriate dynamic deformation can improve the propulsive performance.

Bionic Flapping Pectoral Fin with Controllable Spatial Deformation

This paper presents the design of a bionic pectoral fin with fin rays driven by multi-joint mechanism.Inspired by the cownose ray,the bionic pectoral fin is modeled and simplified based on the key structure and movement parameters of the cownose ray's pectoral fin.A novel bionic propulsion fin ray composed of a synchronous belt mechanism and a slider-rocker mechanism is designed and optimized in order to minimize the movement errors between the designed fin rays and the spanwise curves observed from the cownose ray,and thereby reproducing an actively controllable flapping deformation.A bionic flapping pectoral fin prototype is developed accordingly.Observations verify that the bionic pectoral fin flaps consistently with the design rule extracted from the cownose ray.Experiments in a towing tank are set up to test its capability of generating the lift force and the propulsion force.The movement parameters within the usual propulsion capabilities of the bionic pectoral fm are utilized:The flapping frequency of 0.2 Hz-0.6 Hz,the flapping amplitude of 3°-18°,and the phase di^rence of 10°-60°.The results show that the bionic pectoral fin with actively controllable spatial deformation has expected propulsion performance,which supports that the natural features of the cownose ray play an important role in designing and developing a bionic prototype.