Related papers: Versatile low-Reynolds-number swimmer with three-d…
Micro-robotics at low Reynolds number has been a growing area of research over the past decade. We propose and study a generalized 3-link robotic swimmer inspired by the planar Purcell's swimmer. By incorporating out-of-plane motion of the…
In the limit of zero Reynolds number (Re), swimmers propel themselves exploiting a series of non-reciprocal body motions. For an artificial swimmer, a proper selection of the power source is required to drive its motion, in cooperation with…
We illustrate a concept for shape-changing microswimmers, which exploits the hysteresis of a shape transition of an elastic object, by an elastic disk undergoing cyclic localized swelling. Driving the control parameter of a hysteretic shape…
Small organisms (e.g., bacteria) and artificial microswimmers move due to a combination of active swimming and passive Brownian motion. Considering a simplified linear three-sphere swimmer, we study how the swimmer size regulates the…
A recently introduced model for an autonomous swimmer at low Reynolds number that is comprised of three spheres connected by two arms is considered when one of the spheres has a large radius. The Stokes hydrodynamic flow associated with the…
A conformation space kinetic model is constructed to drive the deformation cycle of a three-sphere swimmer to achieve propulsion at low Reynolds number. We analyze the effect of an external load on the performance of this kinetic swimmer,…
Metachronal swimming, the sequential beating of limbs with a small phase lag, is observed in many organisms at various scales, but has been studied mostly in the limits of high or low Reynolds numbers. Motivated by the swimming of brine…
Biological flyers and swimmers navigate in unsteady wake flows using limited sensory abilities and actuation energies. Understanding how vortical structures can be leveraged for energy-efficient navigation in unsteady flows is beneficial in…
Swimming, i.e., being able to advance in the absence of external forces by performing cyclic shape changes, is particularly demanding at low Reynolds numbers which is the regime of interest for micro-organisms and micro-robots. We focus on…
This paper discusses modelling, controllability and gait design for a spherical flexible swimmer. We first present a kinematic model of a low Reynolds number spherical flexible swimming mechanism with periodic surface deformations in the…
Swimming and pumping at low Reynolds numbers are subject to the "Scallop theorem", which states that there will be no net fluid flow for time reversible motions. Living organisms such as bacteria and cells are subject to this constraint,…
It has been recently shown that it is possible to design simple artificial swimmers at low Reynoldsnumber that possess only one degree of freedom and, nevertheless, can overcome Purcell's celebratedscallop theorem. One of the few examples…
We present a generalized, 3 dimensional version of the Purcell's swimmer which is a planar mechanism locomoting at low Reynlods number regime. We use Cox theory and resistive force theory to come up with the forces acting on the system. We…
We theoretically and computationally study the low-Reynolds-number hydrodynamics of a linear active microswimmer surfing on a compressible thin fluid layer characterized by an odd viscosity. Since the underlying three-dimensional fluid is…
We propose a reciprocal, self-propelled model swimmer at intermediate Reynolds numbers ($Re$). Our swimmer consists of two unequal spheres that oscillate in antiphase generating nonlinear steady streaming (SS) flows. We show computationally…
Reciprocal movement cannot be used for locomotion at low-Reynolds number in an infinite fluid or near a rigid surface. Here we show that this limitation is relaxed for a body performing reciprocal motions near a deformable interface. Using…
Both natural and artificial small-scale swimmers may often self-propel in environments subject to complex geometrical constraints. While most past theoretical work on low-Reynolds number locomotion addressed idealised geometrical…
Metachronal paddling is a swimming strategy in which an organism oscillates sets of adjacent limbs with a constant phase lag, propagating a metachronal wave through its limbs and propelling it forward. This limb coordination strategy is…
We investigate the behavior of a treadmilling microswimmer in a two-dimensional unbounded domain with a semi-infinite no-slip wall. The wall can also be regarded as a probe or pipette inserted into the flow. We solve the governing evolution…
The hydrodynamic flow field generated by self-propelled active particles and swimming microorganisms is strongly altered by the presence of nearby boundaries in a viscous flow. Using a simple model three-linked sphere swimmer, we show that…