Project 3.  Linking muscle physiology and hydrodynamics.
What are the physiological and morphological parameters that enable effective
                 transfer of muscle force to hydrodynamic force?

Our goal is to extend the workloop technique by attaching an isolated frog leg muscle to a submerged robotic limb, enabling the muscle to shorten against an actual hydrodynamic load.  In other words, electrical stimulation is the only input to the muscle:  The emerging shortening pattern of the muscle results from time-varying interactions between hydrodynamic and muscle forces.  Custom transducers will be used to simultaneously measure muscle force and hydrodynamic reaction force on the foot.  In an approach analogous to Project 1, we will explore how swimming performance is limited both by the morphology of the propulsor and by the intrinsic properties of the muscle.  We will therefore learn how parameters affecting hydrodynamic function (foot shape and kinematics) influence the available design space of muscle.  More simply, we expect that changing the limb and foot morphology will change how well the system is ‘tuned’ for transmitting muscle power to hydrodynamic power. Back to projects...