For centuries, designers and engineers have looked to biology for inspiration. Biologically
inspired robots are just one example of the application of knowledge of the natural world to …

One of the emerging themes of fish-inspired robotics is flexibility. Adding flexibility to the
body, joints, or fins of fish-inspired robots can significantly improve thrust and/or efficiency …

Energy-efficient propulsion is a critical design target for robotic swimmers. Although previous
studies have pointed out the importance of nonuniform body bending stiffness distribution (k) …

Undulatory motion of the body is the dominant mode of locomotion in fishes, and numerous
studies of body kinematics and muscle activity patterns have provided insights into the …

We present unifying rules governing the efficient locomotion of swimming fish and marine
mammals. Using scaling and dimensional analysis, supported by new experimental data …

Numerous biological studies of body and/or caudal fin fish have powerfully identified that the
fish body's passive properties, such as stiffness and its distribution, contribute to the fish's …

Flexible slender structures are ubiquitous in biological systems and engineering
applications. Fluid-structure interaction (FSI) plays a key role in the dynamics of such …

The interface between the fluid environment and the surface of the body in swimming fishes
is critical for both physiological and hydrodynamic functions. The skin surface in most …

Fish locomotion is characterized by waves of muscle electrical activity that proceed from
head to tail, and result in an undulatory pattern of body bending that generates thrust during …

The work in this paper focuses on the examination of the effect of variable stiffness
distributions on the kinematics and propulsion performance of a tuna-like swimmer. This is …