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SUMMARY:Slowly but surely: Locomotion of snails and its lessons for soft r
 obots - Dr Javier Rodriguez (University Carlos III de Madrid)
DTSTART:20181109T130000Z
DTEND:20181109T140000Z
UID:TALK112411@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Joseph Ibrahim
DESCRIPTION:Research on the adhesive locomotion of terrestrial gastropods 
 is gaining renewed interest as it provides a source of guidance for the de
 sign of soft biomimetic robots that can perform functions currently not ac
 hievable by conventional rigid vehicles. The locomotion of terrestrial gas
 tropods is driven by a train of periodic muscle contractions (pedal waves)
  and relaxations (interwaves) that propagate from their tail to their head
  (direct waves). We study the locomotion of these animals on smooth flat s
 urfaces by measuring the three-dimensional displacements of the ventral fo
 ot surface induced by the passage of the waves. Moreover\, we also measure
 \, with high temporal and spatial resolution\, the propulsive forces that 
 terrestrial gastropods generate while crawling on smooth flat surfaces. Fi
 nally\, a simple model based on lubrication theory is proposed in accordan
 ce with the experimental observations. This model uncovers a new mode of l
 ocomotion that works even when the lubricant between the foot and the anim
 al is Newtonian\, thanks to the synchronization between the vertical and t
 he horizontal motion of the foot. The model can also be adapted to situati
 ons where the animal's foot is in contact with the ground only at discrete
  points\, as is the case when it crawls on a wire mesh or on rough soil su
 rfaces.
LOCATION:JDB Seminar Room\, CUED
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