Noninvasive 3D geometry extraction of a Sea lion foreflipper

Abstract

Underwater propulsion that leaves little traceable wake structure while producing high levels of thrust is a highly desired goal. A potential biological model is the California sea lion, a highly maneuverable aquatic mammal that produces thrust primarily with its foreflippers without a characteristic flapping frequency. In an effort to mimic the sea lion flipper, a flipper from a sea lion carcass has been scanned using several non invasive methods with the goal of manufacturing a robotic flipper with identical geometry. The scanning methods are hereby compared for overall quality, accuracy, and level of detail captured.