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Naval Research Institute showcases bio-inspired UUV WANDA at SAS '15

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Sea-Air-Space 2015 - Naval Research Lab WANDA UUV
 
 
 
Naval Research Laboratory showcases bio-inspired UUV WANDA at SAS 2015
 
At Sea-Air-Space 2015, the US Navy's Naval Research Laboratory is showcasing and actively controlled curvature robotic fin based on the pectoral fin of a coral reef fish, the bird wrasse. This fin, which generates 3D vectorel thrust through actuation of fin and fin rib stroke angles, has been integrated onto a man-portable, unmanned underwater vehicle called WANDA – Wrasse-inspired Agile Near-shore Deformable-fin Automaton.
     
At Sea-Air-Space 2015, the US Navy's Naval Research Laboratory is showcasing and actively controlled curvature robotic fin based on the pectoral fin of a coral reef fish, the bird wrasse. This fin, which generates 3D vectorel thrust through actuation of fin and fin rib stroke angles, has been integrated onto a man-portable, unmanned underwater vehicle called WANDA – Wrasse-inspired Agile Near-shore Deformable-fin Automaton.
Naval Research Laboratory's WANDA bio-inspired Unmanned Underwater Vehicle at SAS '15
     
By weighting and combining various fin gaits, WANDA performs controlled maneuvers including forward, reverse and vertical translation, and turn-in-place rotation. WANDA is designed to operate at a full range of speed from zero to two knots, or hold position in up to two-knot currents, giving it the low-speed capability many traditional UUVs lack. This technology opens up missions in ports, harbour, and other shorelines areas to include monitoring, and covert and riverine operations.

Various enabling technologies are also being developed in conjunction with the WANDA UUV platform. These include artificial lateral line sensors for near-field object and flow detection, biochemical sensors for trace level detection of chemical signatures, and a hybrid flying swimmer platform (Flimmer) for fast, long-range ingress of a UUV.