54 citations · 268 across the 36 of their papers we have counts for
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Efficient sliding locomotion of three-link bodies with inertia
Adam Earnst, Silas Alben
Many previous studies of sliding locomotion have assumed that body inertia is negligible. Here we optimize the kinematics of a three-link body for efficient locomotion and include…
Efficient bending and lifting patterns in snake locomotion
Silas Alben
We optimize three-dimensional snake kinematics for locomotor efficiency. We assume a general space-curve representation of the snake backbone with small-to-moderate lifting off the…
Efficient sliding locomotion of three-link bodies
Silas Alben
We study the efficiency of sliding locomotion for three-link bodies in the presence of dry (Coulomb) friction. Friction coefficient space can be partitioned into several regions, e…
Intermittent sliding locomotion of a two-link body
Silas Alben, Connor Puritz
We study the possibility of efficient intermittent locomotion for two-link bodies that slide by changing their interlink angle periodically in time. We find that the anisotropy rat…
Efficient sliding locomotion with isotropic friction
Silas Alben
Snakes' bodies are covered in scales that make it easier to slide in some directions than in others. This frictional anisotropy allows for sliding locomotion with an undulatory gai…
Dynamics and locomotion of flexible foils in a frictional environment
Xiaolin Wang, Silas Alben
Over the past few decades, oscillating flexible foils have been used to study the physics of organismal propulsion in different fluid environments. Here we extend this work to a st…