Force and torque-free helical tail robot to study low Reynolds number microorganism swimming

TL;DR

This paper presents a small autonomous robot with a helical tail designed to study microorganism swimming at low Reynolds numbers, providing experimental data that aligns with theoretical models and mimics bacterial swimming.

Contribution

The development of a biologically inspired, force and torque-free robotic swimmer operating in viscous fluids at low Reynolds numbers, enabling detailed flow and actuation studies.

Findings

Swims effectively in highly viscous fluids at Re ≈ 0.1

Experimental speeds match resistive force theory predictions

Design closely mimics bacterial swimming strategies

Abstract

Helical propulsion is used by many microorganisms to swim in viscous-dominated environments. Their swimming dynamics are relatively well understood, but detailed study of the flow fields and actuation mechanisms are still needed to realize wall effects and hydrodynamic interactions. In this letter, we describe the development of an autonomous swimming robot with a helical tail that operates in the Stokes regime. The device uses a battery-based power system with a miniature motor that imposes a rotational speed to a helical tail. The speed, direction, and activation are controlled electronically using an infrared remote control. Since the robot is about 5 centimeters long, we use highly viscous fluids to match the Reynolds number to be $\text{Re} \lessapprox 0.1$. Measurements of swimming speeds are conducted for a range of helical wavelengths, $\lambda$, head geometries and rotation rates, $\omega$. We provide comparisons of the experimental measurements with analytical predictions derived from resistive force theory. This force and torque-free neutrally-buoyant swimmer mimics the swimming strategy of bacteria more closely than previously used designs and offers a lot of potential for future applications.