RT Journal Article
T1 Optimum control strategies for maximum thrust production in underwater undulatory swimming
A1 Fu, Li
A1 Israilov, Sardor
A1 Sánchez-Rodríguez, Jesús
A1 Brouzet, Christophe
A1 Allibert, Guillaume
A1 Raufaste, Christophe
A1 Argentina, Médéric
K1 Peces - Locomoción
K1 Fluctuaciones (Física)
AB Fishes, cetaceans, and many other aquatic vertebrates undulate their bodies to propel themselves through water. Swimming requires an intricate interplay between sensing the environment, making decisions, controlling internal dynamics, and moving the body in interaction with the external medium. Within this sequence of actions initiating locomotion, biological and physical laws manifest complex and nonlinear effects, which do not prevent natural swimmers from demonstrating efficient movement. This raises two complementary questions: how to model this intricacy and how to abstract it for practical swimming. In the context of robotics, the second question is of paramount importance to building efficient artificial swimmers driven by digital signals and mechanics. In this study, we tackle these two questions by leveraging a biomimetic robotic swimmer as a platform for investigating optimal control strategies for thrust generation. Through a combination of machine learning techniques and intuitive models, we identify a control signal that maximizes thrust production. Optimum tail-beat frequency and amplitude result from the subtle interplay between the swimmer’s internal dynamics and its interaction with the surrounding fluid. We then propose a practical implementation for autonomous robotic swimmers that requires no prior knowledge of systems or equations. Direct fluidstructure simulations confirm the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed approach. Hence, our findings bridge fluid dynamics, robotics, and biology, providing valuable insights into the physics of aquatic locomotion.
PB American Physical Society
YR 2025
FD 2025-04-11
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/40643
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/40643
LA eng
NO Fu, L., Israilov, S., Sánchez-Rodríguez, J., Brouzet, C., Allibert, G., Raufaste, C., & Argentina, M. (2025). Optimum control strategies for maximum thrust production in underwater undulatory swimming. Physical Review Fluids, 10(4), 043101.
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 19 ene 2026