Achieving optimal locomotion using self-generated waves

An oscillating body floating at the water surface produces a field of self-generated waves. When the oscillation induces a difference in fore–aft wave amplitude squared, these self-generated waves can be used as a mechanism to propel the body horizontally across the surface (Longuet-Higgins 1977 Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A , vol. 352 , no. 1671, pp. 463–480). The optimisation of this wave-driven propulsion is the interest of this work. To study the conditions necessary to produce optimal thrust we will consider a shallow water set-up where a periodically oscillating pressure source acts as the body. In this framework, an expression for the thrust is derived by relation to the difference in fore–aft amplitude squared. The conditions on the source for maximal thrust are explored both analytically and numerically in two optimal control problems. The first case is where a bound is imposed on the norm of the control function to regularise it. Secondly, a more physically motivated case is studied where the power injected by the source is bounded. The body is permitted to have a drift velocity $U$ . When scaled with the wave speed $c$ , the dimensionless velocity $v=U/c$ divides the study into subcritical, critical and supercritical regimes and the optimal conditions are presented for each. The result in the bounded power case is then used to demonstrate how the modulation of power injected can slowly change the cruising velocity from rest to supercritical velocities.