Self-organisation of artificial muscles based on the cilia and flagella

基于纤毛和鞭毛的人造肌肉的自组织

• 批准号: 2444829
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2444829
• 关键词: Self; organisation; artificial; muscles; based

This project falls within the EPSRC Engineering and Mathematical sciences.Artificial muscles are materials characterised by their ability to contract, expand or rotate in response to external stimuli. Capable of large power-to-weight ratios and large ranges of motion, artificial muscles hold great promise for pushing forward various robotic applications, from robotic prosthetics and exoskeletons to medical robots [1]. There exist several actuators in this category, including piezoelectric actuators, shape-memory alloys and electroactive polymer actuators, each with their own advantages and limitations. A common problem with existing artificial muscles is the difficulty incorporating sensors that allow for actuation in response to their environment. These artificial muscles are disconnected from the behaviour of real muscular fibres, in which contraction is caused by the sliding of protein filaments relative to one another, driven by molecular motors [2]. The same mechanism is responsible for the movement of cilia and flagella, which are hair-like structures in cells that act as a fundamental unit of motion by converting chemical energy into mechanical work [3].The aim of the PhD project is to develop new artificial muscle cells based on the cilia and flagella. Responsible for a wide array of functions, from swimming algae to pumping fluid in the brains of mammals [4], cilia and flagella are a sensible starting point for the development of new artificial muscle cells. Recent research into the flagella beating in sperm [5] highlights the importance of additional structures present in sperm's flagella. By modelling the flagella as an elastic filament, I will use a coarse-grained approach [6] to develop a 3-dimensional model of sperm which allows for efficient simulation. This will allow me to model different structures in the flagella and highlight their importance for sperm movement in high-viscosity environments. I will also investigate the self-organisation of molecular motors which drive the flagllum beat, and once I have a suitable model I will use soft robotics to scale up the system to create robotics based on the flagella. The purpose here is to find the minimal set of interactions that give rise to artificial muscles capable of carrying out tasks. This PhD will not only contribute to our understanding of flagella motion and sperm function, but provide insight into a wide array of robotics applications. Self-organisation is also a universal property observered in numerous natural systems, including swimming bacteria and flocks of birds; this ensures that the PhD has potential to impact a wide array of fields1] Zhang, Jet al., Robotic Artificial Muscles: Current Progress and Future Perspectives, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 35, pp. 761-781 (2019)[2] Sweeney, H., & Holzbaur, E., Motor Proteins,Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives In Biology, vol. 10(2018)[3] Lodish H, Berk A, Zipursky SL, et al. Molecular Cell Biology. 4th edition. New York: W. H. Freeman. Section 19.4, Cilia and Flagella: Structure and Movement. (2000)

该项目福尔斯EPSRC工程和数学科学。人造肌肉是一种材料，其特征是能够响应外部刺激而收缩、扩张或旋转。人造肌肉能够实现大功率重量比和大范围的运动，对于推动各种机器人应用具有巨大的前景，从机器人假肢和外骨骼到医疗机器人[1]。在这一类别中存在几种致动器，包括压电致动器、形状记忆合金和电活性聚合物致动器，每种致动器都具有其自身的优点和局限性。现有人造肌肉的一个常见问题是难以结合允许响应于其环境而致动的传感器。这些人造肌肉与真实的肌肉纤维的行为无关，其中收缩是由分子马达驱动的蛋白质细丝相对于彼此滑动引起的[2]。同样的机制也负责纤毛和鞭毛的运动，纤毛和鞭毛是细胞中的毛发状结构，通过将化学能转化为机械功，作为运动的基本单位[3]。博士项目的目的是开发基于纤毛和鞭毛的新型人工肌肉细胞。纤毛和鞭毛负责广泛的功能，从游泳的藻类到哺乳动物大脑中的泵送液体[4]，纤毛和鞭毛是开发新的人造肌肉细胞的明智起点。最近对精子中鞭毛跳动的研究[5]强调了精子鞭毛中存在的其他结构的重要性。通过将鞭毛建模为弹性细丝，我将使用粗粒度方法[6]来开发一个三维精子模型，从而实现有效的模拟。这将使我能够模拟鞭毛中的不同结构，并强调它们对精子在高粘度环境中运动的重要性。我还将研究驱动鞭毛跳动的分子马达的自组织，一旦我有了合适的模型，我将使用软机器人技术来扩大系统，以创建基于鞭毛的机器人技术。这里的目的是找到能够产生能够执行任务的人工肌肉的最小交互集。这个博士学位不仅有助于我们对鞭毛运动和精子功能的理解，而且还可以深入了解机器人技术的广泛应用。自组织也是许多自然系统中普遍存在的属性，包括游泳细菌和鸟群;这确保了博士学位有可能影响广泛的领域。Robotic Artificial Muscles：Current Progress and Future Perspectives，IEEE Transactions on Robotics，vol. 35，pp. 761-781（2019）[2] Sweeney，H.，& Holzbaur，E.，Motor Proteins，冷泉港生物学展望，第10卷（2018）[3] Lodish H，Berk A，Zipursky SL，et al. Molecular Cell Biology.第四版。纽约：W. H.弗里曼第19.4节，纤毛和鞭毛：结构和运动。（2000年）