Bundling and Tumbling in Bacterial-inspired Bi-flagellated Soft Robots for Attitude Adjustment

TL;DR

This paper presents a bio-inspired soft robot with controllable flagella that can reorient itself through bundling and tumbling, using a physics-based simulation and experimental validation to understand its movement.

Contribution

It introduces a novel flexible flagella mechanism and a comprehensive computational framework to simulate and analyze bacterial-like reorientation behaviors in soft robots.

Findings

The robot can self-reorient through bundling and tumbling behaviors.

Simulation results match experimental observations of attitude changes.

The framework enhances understanding of flagella-driven mobility in soft robots.

Abstract

We create a mechanism inspired by bacterial swimmers, featuring two flexible flagella with individual control over rotation speed and direction in viscous fluid environments. Using readily available materials, we design and fabricate silicone-based helical flagella. To simulate the robot's motion, we develop a physics-based computational tool, drawing inspiration from computer graphics. The framework incorporates the Discrete Elastic Rod method, modeling the flagella as Kirchhoff's elastic rods, and couples it with the Regularized Stokeslet Segments method for hydrodynamics, along with the Implicit Contact Model to handle contact. This approach effectively captures polymorphic phenomena like bundling and tumbling. Our study reveals how these emergent behaviors affect the robot's attitude angles, demonstrating its ability to self-reorient in both simulations and experiments. We anticipate that this framework will enhance our understanding of the directional change capabilities of flagellated robots, potentially stimulating further exploration on microscopic robot mobility.