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Mechanical Devices for Snail-like Locomotion

Hatsopolous Microfluids Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

Susan Ji

Hatsopolous Microfluids Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

Catherine Koveal

Hatsopolous Microfluids Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

A. E. Hosoi

Hatsopolous Microfluids Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, peko{at}mit.edu

We have constructed two mechanical snails, Robosnail 1 and Robosnail 2, inspired by the propulsion mechanisms of live gastropods. Each uses a different mechanical strategy to move on a thin layer of viscous fluid. Robosnail 1 uses a flexible flapping sheet to generate lubrication pressures in a viscous Newtonian fluid which in turn propels the snail. Robosnail 2 uses a compressible sliding sheet on a layer of Laponite, a non-Newtonian, finite-yield stress fluid.

Key Words: fluids • gastropod • snails • locomotion • thin film • lubrication

This version was published on February 1, 2007

Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 18, No. 2, 111-116 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1045389X06063464


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