Adaptive locomotion of artificial microswimmers

TLDR

Bacteria use mechanical plasticity to adapt to changing physical and chemical conditions, with compliant structures aiding taxis in complex environments, and bioinspired, highly deformable architectures provide a route to autonomous small‑scale devices. The study examines how hydrodynamic forces and local fluid rheology affect low‑Reynolds‑number swimming, identifies challenges and benefits of elastohydrodynamic coupling, and develops tools for building untethered microrobots with self‑regulated mobility. The authors analyze hydrodynamic forces and fluid rheology, and develop a suite of machinery for constructing untethered microrobots with self‑regulated mobility. Coupling the structural and magnetic properties of artificial microswimmers with the dynamic properties of the fluid yields adaptive locomotion without on‑.

Abstract

Bacteria can exploit mechanics to display remarkable plasticity in response to locally changing physical and chemical conditions. Compliant structures play a notable role in their taxis behavior, specifically for navigation inside complex and structured environments. Bioinspired mechanisms with rationally designed architectures capable of large, nonlinear deformation present opportunities for introducing autonomy into engineered small-scale devices. This work analyzes the effect of hydrodynamic forces and rheology of local surroundings on swimming at low Reynolds number, identifies the challenges and benefits of using elastohydrodynamic coupling in locomotion, and further develops a suite of machinery for building untethered microrobots with self-regulated mobility. We demonstrate that coupling the structural and magnetic properties of artificial microswimmers with the dynamic properties of the fluid leads to adaptive locomotion in the absence of on-board sensors.