Login / Signup

Effect of body stiffness distribution on larval fish-like efficient undulatory swimming.

Tianlu WangZiyu RenWenqi HuMingtong LiMetin Sitti
Published in: Science advances (2021)
Energy-efficient propulsion is a critical design target for robotic swimmers. Although previous studies have pointed out the importance of nonuniform body bending stiffness distribution (k) in improving the undulatory swimming efficiency of adult fish-like robots in the inertial flow regime, whether such an elastic mechanism is beneficial in the intermediate flow regime remains elusive. Hence, we develop a class of untethered soft milliswimmers consisting of a magnetic composite head and a passive elastic body with different k These robots realize larval zebrafish-like undulatory swimming at the same scale. Investigations reveal that uniform k and high swimming frequency (60 to 100 Hz) are favorable to improve their efficiency. A shape memory polymer-based milliswimmer with tunable k on the fly confirms such findings. Such acquired knowledge can guide the design of energy-efficient leading edge-driven soft undulatory milliswimmers for future environmental and biomedical applications in the same flow regime.
Keyphrases
  • drosophila melanogaster
  • aedes aegypti
  • working memory
  • minimally invasive
  • genome wide
  • current status
  • climate change
  • mass spectrometry
  • human health
  • molecularly imprinted
  • robot assisted