He, S, Yu, H, Kouwenhoven, MBN 
ORCID: 0000-0002-1805-0570, Paoletti, P ORCID: 0000-0001-6131-0377, Dijkstra, M and Xuan, C ORCID: 0000-0002-0459-8711
(2025)
Rolling of stimuli-bent cylindrical robots using contact finite element simulations
Soft Matter, 21 (18).
pp. 3480-3491.
ISSN 1744-683X, 1744-6848
Abstract
Curved cylinders, if rigid, cannot roll on a surface like straight cylinders, but soft cylinders bent by specific stimuli can! Studying the autonomous locomotion of these soft robots and their interactions with the environment using finite element analysis is challenging due to the complex multiphysics of stimuli-responsive soft materials and nonlinear contact mechanics. In this pioneering work, we simulate the rolling of stimuli-bent cylinders on a surface using contact finite elements and introduce a simple yet effective pseudo-thermal field method. Our approach successfully reproduces several modes of autonomous locomotion observed experimentally, including phototropic locomotion, phototropic climbing on a slanted surface, steering under partial illumination, and backward rolling under alternating heat-light stimuli. Parametric analysis demonstrates strong agreement between the experiments and our numerical results, validating the effectiveness of our approach. This study reveals the intriguing and highly nonintuitive dynamics of photo- or thermally bent cylindrical soft robots, and serves as a paradigm for modelling and simulating such rolling robots.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | 40 Engineering, 4016 Materials Engineering |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science & Engineering Faculty of Science & Engineering > School of Engineering |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Mar 2025 10:31 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Jan 2026 18:21 |
| DOI: | 10.1039/d5sm00080g |
| Open Access URL: | https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/202... |
| Related Websites: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3190768 |
| Disclaimer: | The University of Liverpool is not responsible for content contained on other websites from links within repository metadata. Please contact us if you notice anything that appears incorrect or inappropriate. |
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