Self-propulsion

Active particles which are self-propelled by converting energy into mechanical motion represent an expanding research realm in physics and chemistry. For micron-sized particles moving in a liquid (``microswimmers''), most of the basic features have been described by using the model of overdamped active Brownian motion [1]. However, for macroscopic particles or microparticles moving in a gas, inertial effects become relevant such that the dynamics is underdamped. Therefore, recently, active particles with inertia have been described by extending the active Brownian motion model to active Langev

…or other agents to generate self-propulsion (movement). In this talk, I will discuss a few projects from my group illustrating unexpected effects in individual and collectives of self-deformers. For example, snakes and snake-like robots mechanically “diffract” from fixed environmental heterogeneities, collections of smart-active robots (smarticles) can locomote (and phototax) as a collective despite indi

…shape-shifting organelle - to achieve self-propulsion and navigation