Scaling Up: Hydrodynamic Analysis of BlueGuppy Robots in Schooling Swarms

Abstract

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are used in a wide range of applications today, from exploring unique biological habitats, to search and rescue missions, to surveillance for defense applications. In order to operate in these harsh and rapidly changing environments, it is necessary to design vehicles that are highly maneuverable and energy efficient. Fish are successful at both, which makes them a strong candidate for design inspiration. The BlueGuppy robot is a small bio-mimetic fish robot designed for this purpose, but it has only been tested in independent swimming conditions. In this report, the use of schooling formations is proposed, as it is hypothesized that certain formations may provide increased thrust and reduced drag benefits for a trailing fish: the information learned from the “scaling up” of the BlueGuppy to these formations in turn can be applied to UUV research. Through the design and fabrication of a testing setup that allows for a wide range of guppy formations, forces exerted on the trailing fish were recorded, with thrust production and body drag measured across a range of water flow speeds. Results from this project highlight the benefit of using certain formations based on different swimming speeds and UUV mission requirements.