05.3_Surface_Control
Protei 5.3 with sail and draft keel
Sebastian Muellauer
Qiuyang Zhou
The principle idea of the "surface control" is to have flexible spines which will bend under stress. The "sandwich" shape elements, which is called as the ribs, are used to supports the spines. Afterwards a flexible skin will cover the whole hull.
The skeleton of the model:
The "sandwich" shape elements in the middel supports the hull shape. The spines, which are yellow tubes are flexible. We plan to put actuation in some of these tubes so that the hull will bend.
A closer picture:
The actuation principle by motors and cables:
while the motor rotate, the tubes on one side will be pulled to be shorten.
The spines are cut and connected with short bigger tubes. The displacement between spines and bigger tubes enable the spine becomes short in one side and longer in the other side when bending.
This is a bending hull.
The front of the bending hull. Note that the red tape indicates the fixed connection between the spine and the bigger tube, and at the other end is free to move between them.
Just another idea about the articulated elements of the hull.
The elements are connected by pivot hinge and there is a plastic plane on the top. By moving the plastic in one direction (longitudinal direction), both of the two elements can rotate. But the problem is how to make a smooth hull shape with these segments? Or may be this pivot design is complicated.
Turn left by push the plastic:
Turn right by pull the plastic:
Keep straight:
Later, the spines will connected the ribs through the holes. And different motors will be used to drive different segments, which will make each segments totally controllable. But with different motors at different places, might be a little complicated. Another issue is that since the spines are flexible, and there is only one central spine, what will happen is that the hull may twist when bending and this twist has to be avoided.
See Protei-05.4