Locomotion and Dynamics

Vibration as a means for locomotion in complex media

Locomotion is achieved through interactions with the surrounding media that generate thrust. The ability to navigate dry sand, saturated soil, and liquids remains an engineering challenge and often requires separate propulsion methods for each medium. We have devised a propulsor using eccentric rotating masses that can propel itself on dry to wet surfaces.

Our collaboration between Professor Alice Quillen at the Department Physics and Astronomy and Professor Jessica Shang at the Department of Mechanical engineering has resulted in a proposal to investigate the mechanics of vibration-driven locomotion in granular and fluid media; in the process, fundamental insights about the similarities and distinctions between these two media will also be derived.

Our project has two parallel efforts: a Fluids Team, headed by Professor Shang, studying aquatic locomotion, and a Granular Team, headed by Professor Askari, studying terrestrial locomotion. In the first phase of the project, the teams conduct a series of experiments and simulations to probe the propulsor-media interaction; in the subsequent phases, scaling principles for each media will be developed and refined. The immediate goal of this work is to understand how thrust is generated in each media and which parameters contribute to thrust.

The long-term goal is to employ these results to develop and validate scaling principles for vibration-driven locomotion, which will be used to prototype propulsors of varying size.