Optimally swimming stokesian robots

Abstract

We study self-propelled stokesian robots composed of assemblies of balls, in dimensions 2 and 3, and prove that they are able to control their position and orientation. This is a result of controllability, and its proof relies on applying Chow's theorem in an analytic framework, similar to what has been done in [3] for an axisymmetric system swimming along the axis of symmetry. We generalize the analyticity result given in [3] to the situation where the swimmers can move either in a plane or in three-dimensional space, hence experiencing also rotations. We then focus our attention on energetically optimal strokes, which we are able to compute numerically. Some examples of computed optimal strokes are discussed in detail. arXiv:1007.4920v3 [math.OC]

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