Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering
Fluids & Adaptive Structures Lab (FASt Lab)
Led by Patrick Musgrave · Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
What we study
The FASt Lab studies structures that bend and change shape while water or air flows around them, such as bio-inspired underwater robots and swimming devices.
What working here is like
- Building & testing
- No organisms (data only)
- Coding required
- Project
- 1
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
A modular, soft, freely-swimming robot to study the kinematics of carangiform swimming
The lab builds a soft, freely‑swimming robot to learn how undulating fish move. The student uses the robot to test how changing peduncle stiffness affects swimming motions, especially side‑to‑side movement, while it swims freely.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 593
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Multifunctional soft robotic fish: using artificial muscles for energy recovery
2026 · Smart Materials and Structures
Builds a robotic fish that recovers energy from movement to extend its battery life.
- Geometric nonlinearity for 2D mechanical reservoir computing
2026 · Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures
Tests how network size and shape affect the computing power of mechanical systems.
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- Roadmap: Integrating artificial intelligence in structural health monitoring systems
2026 · Measurement Science and Technology
Explains how AI can improve structural health monitoring by analyzing large data sets.
- The role of local active stiffness on the natural frequency of a flexible propulsor
2024 · Smart Materials and Structures
Finds how changes in stiffness along a flexible swimmer affect its natural movement speed.
- Generating Electricity with Hydraulically Amplified Self-Healing Electrostatic (HASEL) Transducers
2024 · Energies
Turns soft muscle-like devices into electricity generators by reversing their usual function.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Patrick Musgrave hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.