Locomotive and reptation motion induced by internal force and friction

Abstract

We propose a simple mechanical model of locomotion induced by internal force and friction. We first construct a system of two elements as an analog of the bipedal motion. The internal force does not induce a directional motion by itself because of the action-reaction law, but a directional motion becomes possible by the control of the frictional force. The efficiency of these model systems is studied using an analogy to the heat engine. As a modified version of the two-elements model, we construct a model which exhibits a bipedal motion similar to kinesin's motion of molecular motor. Next, we propose a linear chain model and a ladder model as an extension of the original two-element model,. We find a transition from a straight to a snake-like motion in a ladder model by changing the strength of the internal force.