Navigation of a Three-Link Microswimmer via Deep Reinforcement Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Lai, Yuyang, Heydari, Sina, Pak, On Shun, Man, Yi
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Lai, Yuyang
Heydari, Sina
Pak, On Shun
Man, Yi
author_facet Lai, Yuyang
Heydari, Sina
Pak, On Shun
Man, Yi
contents Motile microorganisms develop effective swimming gaits to adapt to complex biological environments. Translating this adaptability to smart microrobots presents significant challenges in motion planning and stroke design. In this work, we explore the use of reinforcement learning (RL) to develop stroke patterns for targeted navigation in a three-link swimmer model at low Reynolds numbers. Specifically, we design two RL-based strategies: one focusing on maximizing velocity (Velocity-Focused Strategy) and another balancing velocity with energy consumption (Energy-Aware Strategy). Our results demonstrate how the use of different reward functions influences the resulting stroke patterns developed via RL, which are compared with those obtained from traditional optimization methods. Furthermore, we showcase the capability of the RL-powered swimmer in adapting its stroke patterns in performing different navigation tasks, including tracing complex trajectories and pursuing moving targets. Taken together, this work highlights the potential of reinforcement learning as a versatile tool for designing efficient and adaptive microswimmers capable of sophisticated maneuvers in complex environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_00084
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Navigation of a Three-Link Microswimmer via Deep Reinforcement Learning
Lai, Yuyang
Heydari, Sina
Pak, On Shun
Man, Yi
Robotics
Fluid Dynamics
Motile microorganisms develop effective swimming gaits to adapt to complex biological environments. Translating this adaptability to smart microrobots presents significant challenges in motion planning and stroke design. In this work, we explore the use of reinforcement learning (RL) to develop stroke patterns for targeted navigation in a three-link swimmer model at low Reynolds numbers. Specifically, we design two RL-based strategies: one focusing on maximizing velocity (Velocity-Focused Strategy) and another balancing velocity with energy consumption (Energy-Aware Strategy). Our results demonstrate how the use of different reward functions influences the resulting stroke patterns developed via RL, which are compared with those obtained from traditional optimization methods. Furthermore, we showcase the capability of the RL-powered swimmer in adapting its stroke patterns in performing different navigation tasks, including tracing complex trajectories and pursuing moving targets. Taken together, this work highlights the potential of reinforcement learning as a versatile tool for designing efficient and adaptive microswimmers capable of sophisticated maneuvers in complex environments.
title Navigation of a Three-Link Microswimmer via Deep Reinforcement Learning
topic Robotics
Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.00084