Su, Tsung-Chow

Since 2010, aquaculture practices have produced 70% of global seafood consumption. However, this fast-growing sector of agriculture has yet to see the adoption of advanced technologies to improve farm operations. The Hybrid Aerial Underwater robotiCs System (HAUCS) is an Internet of Things (IoT) framework that aims to bring transformative changes to pond aquaculture.
This project focuses on the latest developments in the HAUCS mobile sensing platform and field deployment. A novel rigid Kirigami-based robotic extension subsystem was created to expand the functionality of the HAUCS platform. The primary objective of this design was to limit the surface area of an extender arm on the drone during flight operations and minimize the in-flight drag. By utilizing a novel combination of shape memory polymer (SMP) and nitinol to extend and retrieve the sensing arm, the structure was able to conserve energy while operating under varying environmental conditions.

When a liquid drains through a hole in a container, a vortex may form between the surface and the drainage hole. An interesting phenomenon occurs in the presence of two drainage holes. Only one vortex forms, while the other hole will mostly drain as sink flow. In addition, the vortex can switch between one hole and the other with regular periodicity. The primary goal of this study is to measure this periodicity under varying conditions (height of water in the container, diameter of the drainage holes, and distance between drainage holes). Additionally, a study concerning the volume flow rates of vortical vs. sink flow out of the drainage holes was conducted. In the case of two drainage holes, when the height of the water was decreased in the container, the diameter of drainage holes decreased, or the distance between drainage holes was increased, the switching period was shown to decrease.

We examine experimentally, the spreading dynamics of a wetting water film on plate glass when subjected to vibrations. Both mechanical and acoustic sources of vibrations are considered. The water is wetted on a simply supported rectangular piece of plate glass. Several glass inclinations are tested, with different exciting frequencies. Furthermore, we add different chemicals on the glass surface. This changes the contact angle of the water droplets. Doing this allows the examination of the effect of adhesion versus cohesion, in regards to the behavior of the water spreading on the plate glass. Our attempt to elucidate the relevant physics is driven by the goal of providing a basis for replacing windshield wipers of future automobiles.

This study is to design an autonomous underwater robotic laboratory for different missions within the Arctic environment. Missions involve locating natural resources such as oil deposits, determining if the area is a feasible location for deployment of sea and air systems for many operations, and to obtain water and mineral samples to study and monitor the changing Arctic environment. Thus far, we demonstrated the feasibility of an autonomous walking robot that can be used to explore the Arctic by walking under a sheet of ice. A key component of this is that by controlling the robot’s buoyancy the robot will be capable of walking upside down under a wooden plank. We water proofed a commercially available model robot and carried out the experiment in the Hydrodynamics Laboratory. The preliminary investigation contributes to an internal proposal submitted to I-Sense Internal Fund Program.

In this paper, the possibility of using a Small Water-plane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) as an
unmanned Arctic scientific research vessel is analyzed. Before carrying out the stability
analysis of the SWATH ship, this paper briefly outlines the importance of the Arctic survey,
which guides the importance of the new research ship for Arctic scientific exploration. In
addition to being used as a long-tern monitoring and data collection platform, it is also used
as a recovery mothership for autonomous equipment such as an AUV.
After briefly introducing the basic background of a SWATH, it’s advantages and
disadvantages are enumerated and analyzed, and a combination of theoretical and practical
tests are used to conduct a brief analysis and summary of the reasons for the appearance of
trim by head arising from SWATH navigation. Trim by head occurs when a vessel incline such that its plane of flotation is not coincident with its mean waterline plane. In terms of
theory, hydrodynamic equations are used to theoretically deduce the SWATH state of
navigation and get the corresponding characteristic equation. Finally, a new type USV be
designed conceptionally and be created as a model by Solid-work software. Conceptual
design combines the advantages of SWATH and remedy deficiency of its longitudinal
stability. The theoretical calculation and analysis of the struts of the conceptual model
proves that the oblique struts structure can effectively improves the transverse stability of
the model, and with the help of the special slender ellipse structure which is installed on
the model’s struts, the righting moment of the model is increased when it’s heeling during
a large angle. The hydrodynamic analysis of the conceptual model is carried out by Star-
CCM software. The simulation results also prove the effectiveness of stabilizer fins to the
longitudinal stability of the conceptual design and reflects the data information of the
model in terms of resistance and motion state. At last, we have a general understanding of
the performance characteristics of the conceptual model by analysis the feedback data,
which provides reliable support for future improvement and optimization.

Ocean is human’s last frontier on Earth with most of its space inaccessible to human and remains
largely unexplored. For the protection of our ocean and its sound development, unmanned autonomous
underwater vehicle AUV, plays an increasingly important role. However, today’s AUV can’t function in a
strong current environment. Propeller-driven AUVs typically move at speeds of up to 1.5-2.0 m/s, and
thus strong ocean currents could push AUVs way from the planned paths. And their control surfaces
may not work properly, especially when AUVs are maneuvering. Extra thrusters may be added to
improve the maneuverability, yet the endurances of the vehicles will be shortened since extra thrusters
consume more power. On the other hand, buoyancy-driven underwater gliders, using internal actuators,
are characterized by long endurance. However, gliders typically move at horizontal speeds of about 0.3
m/s, which make gliders unsuitable for the missions in strong ocean currents. In the present research, a
hybrid AUV design will be studied which combines the capabilities of both AUVs and underwater
gliders. The proposed AUV will be propeller-driven yet the maneuverability of the vehicle in both
horizontal and vertical planes will be achieved by using internal actuators instead of control surfaces
and extra thrusters. The research will mainly focus on the control strategy of an AUV in a horizontal
plane by using internal actuators to exploit the vehicle’s coupling effect of the roll motion on horizontal
motions to maneuver AUV in a strong current environment.

As human explore deeper into ocean, more and more subsea structures need to be installed.
Deployable structures, a folded package which could be drop from surface and at destination morphing
into its final structure form have significant advantages like its counterpart in space structures. More
recently, many space missions have proposed large inflatable structure for different proposes. In lieu of
the difference between outer space and underwater environment, it is necessary to include the fluid
structure interaction in underwater deployable inflatable structures application to study the effect of
dense liquid environment on the inflating dynamics of ocean structures. The purpose for the present
research is to demonstrate, through a numerical simulation and a small scale water tank test, a
Deployable Structure for Intervention on Oil Seeps DISIOS, which could form an underwater dome and
collect lower density chemicals from oil seep. DISIOS prototype are formed by membranes and
inflatable tubes, where tubes act as framework to support the membranes to construct a dome. The
study begin with simulate water injection into flatted structures to verify the ability of LS-Dyna software.
Deflection and velocity of membranes are recorded to compare with experiment data. Then we turned
to inflate process of folded structure by different folded methods. From unfolding process simulation, we
could determine which type of fold method works best for our predesign shape of tube. We are now
conducting the dynamic analysis of inflatable tube, which is the elementary component of DISIOS
framework.

Previous studies have shown that the human body is
responsive to rapid temperature changes, particularly
in the forearm region, when determining comfortable
temperatures. The goal of this study is to design
a wristband that can passively cool the user through
a finned design and to test its effectiveness. To this
end, an aluminum finned wristband has been designed
and the Adafruit Flora wearable microcontroller
was used to monitor the temperature and output
the data via Bluetooth. An Android application was
then created to read the data output and save it as a
text file that could be output elsewhere. This project
will be tested by recording the temperature data as
test subjects engage in physical exercise to see if the
wristband can continuously cool the user.

FAU's Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry hosts an annual symposium where students engaged in undergraduate research may present their findings either through a poster presentation or an oral presentation.

FAU's Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry hosts an annual symposium where students engaged in undergraduate research may present their findings either through a poster presentation or an oral presentation.