The Experimental Method
The development, manufacture, and testing of robotic plesiosaur flippers.
Manufacturing the Flippers
The plesiosaur flippers are modified limbs specialised for aquatic locomotion. As only the bones remain as fossils, the soft tissue such as muscles and skin must be reconstructed to obtain the original shape. This reconstruction was achieved by comparing plesiosaur flippers with extant animals that swim using flippers, including turtles, sea lions, and penguins.
Flippers were manufactured using 3D printing in ABS plastic, incorporating dye injection ports. These experimental flippers were constructed at approximately 1.2 scale.
The Demonstration Experiment
The demonstration experiment is a simplified version of the full experimental system. It operates at approximately 1:10 scale, meaning the full-scale experimental apparatus is ten times larger in each dimension.
The Full Experimental System
A robotic plesiosaur system was constructed to provide two axes of motion to each flipper: pitch and heave. This robotic system was mounted above a large flume tank.
The flume tank used in the full experiment is 14 metres long, allowing flippers measuring approximately 0.5 metres in length to be tested under controlled hydrodynamic conditions. A carriage system mounted above the flume provides five axes of motion, enabling detailed investigation of flipper kinematics and propulsion.
