SMART CENSAM talk by Mr Jeff Dusek (MIT)

Event Date: 06 May 2015 07:00 AM - 06 May 2015 08:00 AM

Event Venue: TBC (register at CENSAM's website)

Seeing the unseen: applying biological sensing principles to marine vehicle perception

Seminar Abstract:
Marine vehicles face a distinct perceptual disadvantage when compared to their
counterparts on land and in the sky. The attenuation of electromagnetic waves in seawater precludes the use of radio communication and GPS navigation while submerged, leaving underwater vehicles reliant on power intensive visual and acoustic systems that are susceptible to environmental interference. In particular, turbid, shallow, and highly dynamic coastal waters, like those found off the coast of Singapore, provide an especially challenging environment for safe and reliable operation.

In nature, fish have solved this perplexing sensory problem and display behaviors such as obstacle avoidance, prey tracking, and schooling that demonstrate an intimate knowledge of the near-body flow field. This enhanced perception of the maritime world is mediated by the velocity and pressure sensing abilities of the fish’s lateral line.

This talk will explore the development and testing of a series of biomimetic pressure sensor arrays based on the sensing principles of the fish lateral line, and introduces the use of a carbon black-PDMS composite as a piezoresistive sensing material. The utility of near-body pressure sensing on marine vehicles is demonstrated through two experimental examples: detecting the vortical structures generated by the dynamic motion of single and multi-element hydrofoils, and monitoring the dynamics of an autonomous surface vehicle operating in a real-world reservoir environment.

Speaker’s Biography:
Mr Jeff Dusek is a PhD Candidate in the Mechanical Engineering Department at MIT. His research focuses on the development of highly conformal pressure sensor arrays for nearbody flow detection on marine vehicles.

Other areas of research interest include sailboat, hydrodynamics, biomimetics and its applications to sensor design, and assistive technology. Jeff received a S.M. in Ocean Engineering from MIT in 2011 and a B.S. in Ocean Engineering from Florida Atlantic University in 2009.