Omnidirectional propulsion in a metachronal swimmer
Fig 10
Computationally simulated MV for the 3 ctenophore row control strategies, with a variable number of rows beating at 30 Hz, swimming either forward or backward, for a simulated time of one second.
The darker gray ellipsoid placed on the origin illustrates the animals’ initial position. Turning mode 1 is shown in blue, mode 2 in black and mode 3 in red. (A) Side view displaying the backward (-x) and forward (+x) swimming trajectories. Asymmetry arises from the distribution of ctenes along the body. (B) Front view of the swimming trajectories, showing the wide range of turning directions.