When scientists design things they often look to Mother Nature and hundreds if not millions of years of evolution to see what she figured out. For instance when designing aircraft we look at birds and how they fly and when designing a submarine we may look at dolphins, whales, fish or sharks to see which design works best and which shape we might mimic. Did you know that a shark is six times more efficient per weight than our Navys most advanced nuclear submarine? Its true and indeed tells us that even if Mother Nature is not the master of intelligent design, that there are many a species better than us at designing themselves; perhaps thru natural selection or survival of the fittest, or a combination of these and other factors. If mankinds most brilliant minds are to design Autonomous Underwater vehicles (AUVs), which use only solar power and batteries, which flex polymer imitation muscles then we need to do more than just understand how a shark, dolphin or tuna fish swims. We must become one with it. We must get inside of not its mind, but its body to understand how it uses the hydrodynamics, ocean currents and its own kinetic energy as it interacts as one with the water. http://www.thetech.org/robotics/universal/breakout_p07_robotuna.html I therefore propose that we fit a thin skin over a dolphin with sensors on it. You know like a shirt that people put on their dogs to keep them warm, sure hey look silly, but you get the idea. The thin skin will be broken into grids and as the dolphin moves the grids will be stretched and compressed, each time the dolphin powers its way thru the water. The dolphin may think this is a stupid experiment, but we can give them extra fish for dealing with the extra aggravation. The sensors, via a wireless underwater system to our computer, will record this movement of the grid system. Additionally the grid system will have pressure sensors to tell us the amount of dynamic pressure from the water is being forced on each grid. Similar to the tests NASA does for wing loading and pressure on the skin of an aircraft wing during flight and various maneuvers. Once these tests are completed we then know exactly how and when our RoboTuna or Robotic Fish AUV must move to maintain the level of efficiency to run on solar powered energy, yet at speeds of sea life. This study needs to be funded in a grant to three different Universities for 1 million dollars each and the information learned needs to be given to the United States Naval Research for use in net-centric warfare strategies and also given to the United States Coast Guard for future use in surveillance AUV for patrolling our coastline. More efficiency means less power needed, greater range, faster speeds and more agility to complete the assigned tasks. We must be thinking to the future and check out what the other brilliant species of the planet have done to get them to the tops of their food chains. |
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