| Abstract: | In this paper the author presents a mathematical model of a device that can be seen as a segment of an artificial worm (following the paradigm  earthworm ) and as an artificial muscle as well. Confining considerations to statics, the model shows up as an ordinary parameter-dependent boundary value problem. It is tackled numerically in various particular forms by means of Maple and thus gives a good view of the segment's behavior during inflation and under longitudinal load. Segments of maximal volume present a useful preliminary stage of the investigations.Thanks are to Klaus Zimmermann and his Motion Systems Group at TU Ilmenau for discussions and experiments, to Katrin Knabe for typing, and to an unknown reviewer for directing the author's attention to physical nonlinearity. |
