TY - JOUR TI - A jellyfish-based aquatic locomotor with tunable gaits DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T32B9263 PY - 2017 AB - The main objective of this thesis is to characterize the fluid flow around a jellyfish-inspired locomotor and evaluate its efficiency by measuring the cost of transport. This thesis describes the design and fabrication of a soft locomotor inspired by the swimming patterns seen in nature by the moon jellyfish. The locomotor used the linear actuation of a syringe to pull on its soft bell to emulate the contraction of muscles in a jellyfish. The locomotor swam with various gaits categorized into three paces of actuation: fast, moderate, and slow. By performing particle image velocimetry and collecting vertical displacement data through acquired video, it was possible to characterize the motion of the locomotor and surrounding fluid. The flow pattern for the moderate gait most closely followed the flow pattern of living, oblate jellyfish. The displacement and velocity profiles showed distinct regimes of contraction and relaxation as seen in living jellyfish. At moderate and slow gaits, there was a third regime of post-relaxation depicted by an additional acceleration phase. The calculated average costs of transport for various gaits indicate there is a dependence on swimming speed. In general, these results suggest that jellyfish might be capable of adjusting their propulsive efficiency by varying their gait, but that they have evolved to swim at a gait for maximum feeding efficiency rather than propulsive efficiency. KW - Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering KW - Jellyfishes KW - Fluid dynamics LA - eng ER -