Mechanical Devices for Snail-like Locomotion

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

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

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

First published on May 17, 2006, doi:10.1177/1045389X06063464

Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures 2007;18:111.

A more recent version of this article appeared on February 1, 2007


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?