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arXiv · 1911.02805

Optimal Actuation of Flagellar Magnetic Micro-Swimmers

Yacine El Alaoui-Faris·Jean-Baptiste Pomet·Stéphane Régnier·Laetitia Giraldi
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Abstract

We present an automated procedure for the design of optimal actuation for flagellar magnetic microswimmers based on numerical optimization. Using this method, a new magnetic actuation method is provided which allows these devices to swim significantly faster compared to the usual sinusoidal actuation. This leads to a novel swimming strategy which makes the swimmer perform a 3D figure-8 trajectory. This shows that a faster propulsion is obtained when the swimmer is allowed to go out-of-plane. This approach is experimentally validated on a scaled-up flexible swimmer.

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Yacine El Alaoui-Faris, Jean-Baptiste Pomet, Stéphane Régnier, Laetitia Giraldi. 2019-11-07. Optimal Actuation of Flagellar Magnetic Micro-Swimmers. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreve.101.042604

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