- Series
- Applied and Computational Mathematics Seminar
- Time
- Monday, April 23, 2012 - 2:00pm for 1 hour (actually 50 minutes)
- Location
- Skiles 006
- Speaker
- Fangxu Jing – GT Math
- Organizer
- Silas Alben
We analyze two-link (or three-link) 2D snake like locomotions and discuss the optimization of the motion. The snake is modeled as two (or three) identical links connected via hinge joints and the relative angles between the links are prescribed as periodic actuation functions. An essential feature of the locomotion is the anisotropy of friction coefficients. The dynamics of the snake is analyzed numerically, as well as analytically for small amplitude actuations of the relative angles. Cost of locomotion is defined as the ratio between distance traveled by the snake and the energy expenditure within one period. Optimal conditions of the highest efficiency in terms of the friction coefficients and the actuations are discussed for the model.