Magnetic cilia carpets with programmable metachronal waves

Hongri Gu, Quentin Boehler, Haoyang Cui, Eleonora Secchi, Giovanni Savorana, Carmela Marco, Simone Gervasoni, Quentin Peyron, Tian-Yun Huang, Salvador Pane, Ann M. Hirt, Daniel Ahmed and Bradley J. Nelson ()
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Hongri Gu: Institute of Robotics and Intelligent System, ETH Zurich
Quentin Boehler: Institute of Robotics and Intelligent System, ETH Zurich
Haoyang Cui: Institute of Robotics and Intelligent System, ETH Zurich
Eleonora Secchi: Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich
Giovanni Savorana: Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zurich
Carmela Marco: Institute of Robotics and Intelligent System, ETH Zurich
Simone Gervasoni: Institute of Robotics and Intelligent System, ETH Zurich
Quentin Peyron: ICube Lab, UDS-CNRS-INSA
Tian-Yun Huang: Institute of Robotics and Intelligent System, ETH Zurich
Salvador Pane: Institute of Robotics and Intelligent System, ETH Zurich
Ann M. Hirt: Institute of Geophysics, ETH Zurich
Daniel Ahmed: Institute of Robotics and Intelligent System, ETH Zurich
Bradley J. Nelson: Institute of Robotics and Intelligent System, ETH Zurich

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Metachronal waves commonly exist in natural cilia carpets. These emergent phenomena, which originate from phase differences between neighbouring self-beating cilia, are essential for biological transport processes including locomotion, liquid pumping, feeding, and cell delivery. However, studies of such complex active systems are limited, particularly from the experimental side. Here we report magnetically actuated, soft, artificial cilia carpets. By stretching and folding onto curved templates, programmable magnetization patterns can be encoded into artificial cilia carpets, which exhibit metachronal waves in dynamic magnetic fields. We have tested both the transport capabilities in a fluid environment and the locomotion capabilities on a solid surface. This robotic system provides a highly customizable experimental platform that not only assists in understanding fundamental rules of natural cilia carpets, but also paves a path to cilia-inspired soft robots for future biomedical applications.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16458-4

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