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SUMMARY:MEchanics GAthering –MEGA- Seminar: Talk 1 - Improving vertical-
 axis wind turbines with blade pitch control\; Talk 2 - To swim fast or to 
 go far: answers from 1-guilla\, a bio-inspired undulatory robot
DTSTART:20231109T161500
DTEND:20231109T173000
DTSTAMP:20260609T084011Z
UID:911d488e5e991c7a335d2e7fe39346e99ad0872014a566338712f6f2
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Daniel Fernex (UNFoLD\, EPFL) Alexandros Anastasiadis (UNFoLD
 \, BioRob\, EPFL)\nTalk 1: Improving vertical-axis wind turbines with bla
 de pitch control\nby Daniel Fernex\n\nAbstract:\nThe large-scale implement
 ation of vertical-axis wind turbines is limited by the turbines’ lower 
 efficiency and shorter lifetime\, rooted in the high unsteadiness of the 
 flow and blade loading. We address these limitations with blade-pitch angl
 e control to alter the flow separation and dynamic stall development. The 
 control law\, optimized with Bayesian optimization\, reorients the blades 
 to modify the flow and reduce the detrimental effects of dynamic stall. Th
 is actuation yields a high control authority over the flow and enables to 
 achieve numerous objectives\, such as an increase of the power production 
 by 219% and a reduction of undesired transient load fluctuations.\n\nBiogr
 aphy:\nDaniel Fernex is a postdoctoral fellow in the Unsteady Flow Diagnos
 tics Laboratory (UNFoLD) at EPFL. After a PhD at the Technical University
  of Braunschweig\, Germany\, he moved to Switzerland for a post-doc positi
 on at EPFL. Daniel's main focus is the improvement of vertical-axis wind 
 turbines using blade pitch control. He implements and tests open and clos
 ed-loop control solutions to explore the potential of this actuation to m
 anipulate the flow and achieve better performance.\n\nTalk 2: To swim fas
 t or to go far: answers from 1-guilla\, a bio-inspired undulatory robot\nb
 y Alexandros Anastasiadis\n\nAbstract:\nNatural undulatory swimmers are ob
 served to adapt their waveform kinematics when migrating or when swimming 
 against strong currents. To characterise the effects of waveform kinematic
 s on the swimming performance of undulatory swimmers\, we designed a bio-i
 nspired anguilliform robot. We measured the robot’s swimming speed\, eff
 iciency\, in terms of the cost of transport\, and body kinematics in free 
 swimming experiments\, for a broad range of kinematic parameters\, includi
 ng joint amplitude\, body wavelength\, and frequency. We find that speed\,
  in terms of stride length\, increases for increasing maximum tail angle\,
  described by the newly proposed specific tail amplitude. Maximum stride l
 ength is reached for specific tail amplitudes around unity. Minimum cost o
 f transport requires a lower specific tail amplitude and body undulations 
 close to pure travelling waves. Live anguilliform swimmers display a range
  of specific tail amplitudes that match our robot’s efficient regime\, s
 uggesting similar mechanisms of efficient locomotion. The results improve
  our understanding of anguilliform swimming and provide guidelines for imp
 roved design of undulatory swimming robots.\n\nBiography:\nAlexandros is 
 a Ph.D. student at EPFL. He has joined UNFoLD with Prof. Karen Mulleners
  and BioRob with prof. Auke Ijspeert\, since July 2021. His research foc
 uses on understanding the hydrodynamics of undulatory swimming with the u
 se of robotics. Before joining EPFL\, Alexandros obtained his diploma in m
 echanical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in 
 2020. 
LOCATION:MED 2 2423 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==MED%202%202423 https://epf
 l.zoom.us/j/67432145299?pwd=RXo4dHBQaFhFbktzYVdIa2xGOEhqUT09
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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