Design of a biohybrid robot by mimicking the gait mechanism of Aplysia californica

Abstract

We present the design, fabrication and analysis of a biohybrid robot by mimicking the bioinspired feature of gait mechanism of Aplysia californica. Aplysia is a marine gastropod having very stable movement through pedal waves. Movement in the organism is due to viscoelastic properties of the mucus which result in resistance variation and also act as a medium for propulsive force transmission. We designed the biohybrid robot on the principle of this anisotropic friction and it was actuated by the natural muscle from rana rugulosus. After kinetic analysis of different structures, fluid dynamic analysis of the final model gave the variation in drag force. The 3D printed robot undergoes forward motion toward the side with lower resistance upon electrical stimulation with the speed of 2mm per pulse.