Flowfield measurements in the wake of a robotic lamprey

Experiments are reported on the hydrodynamics of a swimming robotic lamprey under conditions of steady swimming and where the thrust exceeds the drag. The motion of the robot was based on the swimming of live lampreys, which is described by an equation similar to that developed for the American eel by Tytell and Lauder (J Exp Biol 207: 1825-1841, 2004). For steady swimming, the wake structure closely resembles that of the American eel, where two pairs of same sign vortices are shed each tail beat cycle, giving the wake a 2P structure. Force estimates suggest that the major part of the thrust is produced at or close to the end of the tail.