2022/10/18 by Kelimar Diaz, Diaz, Kelimar, Baxi Chong +7 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Micro and Nano Robotics #Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence #Robotic Locomotion and Control
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2210.09570
openalex publication_date 2022/10/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Study of the locomotion of a centipede (L. forficatus) at the air-water interface reveals that it does not predominantly use its 14 leg pairs to locomote; unlike most swimmers which propagate head-to-tail body bending waves, this species propels via tail-to-head waves. Its low mass and body-fluid contact yield locomotion dynamics in which fluid wave drag forces dominate inertia. Microorganism-inspired wave drag resistive force theory captures swimming performance of the macroscale animal, motivating a control hypothesis for the animals self-propulsion body and limb kinematics.