Reduced rotational flows enable the translation of surface-rolling microrobots in confined spaces

Ugur Bozuyuk, Amirreza Aghakhani, Yunus Alapan, Muhammad Yunusa, Paul Wrede and Metin Sitti ()
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Ugur Bozuyuk: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Amirreza Aghakhani: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Yunus Alapan: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Muhammad Yunusa: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Paul Wrede: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Metin Sitti: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Biological microorganisms overcome the Brownian motion at low Reynolds numbers by utilizing symmetry-breaking mechanisms. Inspired by them, various microrobot locomotion methods have been developed at the microscale by breaking the hydrodynamic symmetry. Although the boundary effects have been extensively studied for microswimmers and employed for surface-rolling microrobots, the behavior of microrobots in the proximity of multiple wall-based “confinement” is yet to be elucidated. Here, we study the confinement effect on the motion of surface-rolling microrobots. Our experiments demonstrate that the locomotion efficiency of spherical microrollers drastically decreases in confined spaces due to out-of-plane rotational flows generated during locomotion. Hence, a slender microroller design, generating smaller rotational flows, is shown to outperform spherical microrollers in confined spaces. Our results elucidate the underlying physics of surface rolling-based locomotion in confined spaces and present a design strategy with optimal flow generation for efficient propulsion in such areas, including blood vessels and microchannels.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34023-z

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