In-Channel Experiments on Vertical Swimming with Bacteria-Like Robots

Bio-inspired micro-robots are of great importance as to implement versatile microsystems for a variety of in vivo and in vitro applications in medicine and biology. Accurate models are necessary to understand the swimming and rigid-body dynamics of such systems. In this study, a series of experiments are conducted with a two-link cm-scale bio-inspired robot moving vertically without a tether, in silicone-filled narrow cylindrical glass channels. Swimming velocities are obtained for a set of varying tail and wave geometries, and employed to validate a resistive force theory (RFT) model using modified resistance coefficients based on measured forward velocity and body rotation rates.