Omnidirectional propulsion in a metachronal swimmer
Fig 7
Maneuverability-Agility Plot (MAP).
Experimental measurements of freely swimming B. vitrea (red dots) and for all simulated cases of modes 1, 2, and 3 (blue dots). Lower values of indicate sharp turns (more maneuverable); higher values of
indicate faster swimming (more agile). Values in the upper left (low
, high
) are straightforwardly achievable with straight swimming (mode 4) or with Δf<2Hz; these points were not simulated. Simulating mode 4 mathematically would result in
, since the eight rows beat at the same frequency. However, mode 3 will approach the behavior of mode 4 as Δf = fout−fin approaches zero. Here, the minimum value is Δf = 2Hz, so the upper-left corner of the MAP is not occupied. Simulations were halted after the timestep in which
exceeded 10, resulting in some trials with
slightly greater than 10.