scholarly journals The impact of pelvic lateral rotation on hindlimb kinematics and stride length in the red-legged running frog, Kassina maculata

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 190060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber J. Collings ◽  
Laura B. Porro ◽  
Cameron Hill ◽  
Christopher T. Richards

Some frog species, such as Kassina maculata (red-legged running frog), use an asynchronous walking/running gait as their primary locomotor mode. Prior comparative anatomy work has suggested that lateral rotation of the pelvis improves walking performance by increasing hindlimb stride length; however, this hypothesis has never been tested. Using non-invasive methods, experimental high-speed video data collected from eight animals were used to create two three-dimensional kinematic models. These models, each fixed to alternative local anatomical reference frames, were used to investigate the hypothesis that lateral rotation of the mobile ilio-sacral joint in the anuran pelvis plays a propulsive role in walking locomotion by increasing hindlimb stride length. All frogs used a walking gait (duty factor greater than 0.5) despite travelling over a range of speeds (0.04–0.23 m s −1 ). The hindlimb joint motions throughout a single stride were temporally synchronized with lateral rotation of the pelvis. The pelvis itself, on average, underwent an angular excursion of 12.71° (±4.39°) with respect to the body midline during lateral rotation. However, comparison between our two kinematic models demonstrated that lateral rotation of the pelvis only increases the cranio-caudal excursion of the hindlimb modestly. Thus, we propose that pelvic lateral rotation is not a stride length augmenting mechanism in K. maculata .

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1852) ◽  
pp. 20170359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjun Nair ◽  
Christy Nguyen ◽  
Matthew J. McHenry

An escape response is a rapid manoeuvre used by prey to evade predators. Performing this manoeuvre at greater speed, in a favourable direction, or from a longer distance have been hypothesized to enhance the survival of prey, but these ideas are difficult to test experimentally. We examined how prey survival depends on escape kinematics through a novel combination of experimentation and mathematical modelling. This approach focused on zebrafish ( Danio rerio ) larvae under predation by adults and juveniles of the same species. High-speed three-dimensional kinematics were used to track the body position of prey and predator and to determine the probability of behavioural actions by both fish. These measurements provided the basis for an agent-based probabilistic model that simulated the trajectories of the animals. Predictions of survivorship by this model were found by Monte Carlo simulations to agree with our observations and we examined how these predictions varied by changing individual model parameters. Contrary to expectation, we found that survival may not be improved by increasing the speed or altering the direction of the escape. Rather, zebrafish larvae operate with sufficiently high locomotor performance due to the relatively slow approach and limited range of suction feeding by fish predators. We did find that survival was enhanced when prey responded from a greater distance. This is an ability that depends on the capacity of the visual and lateral line systems to detect a looming threat. Therefore, performance in sensing, and not locomotion, is decisive for improving the survival of larval fish prey. These results offer a framework for understanding the evolution of predator–prey strategy that may inform prey survival in a broad diversity of animals.


2018 ◽  
Vol 860 ◽  
pp. 739-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rémi Bourguet

The flow-induced vibrations of an elastically mounted circular cylinder, free to oscillate in an arbitrary direction and forced to rotate about its axis, are examined via two- and three-dimensional simulations, at a Reynolds number equal to 100, based on the body diameter and inflow velocity. The behaviour of the flow–structure system is investigated over the entire range of vibration directions, defined by the angle $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}$ between the direction of the current and the direction of motion, a wide range of values of the reduced velocity $U^{\star }$ (inverse of the oscillator natural frequency) and three values of the rotation rate (ratio between the cylinder surface and inflow velocities), $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}\in \{0,1,3\}$, in order to cover the reference non-rotating cylinder case, as well as typical slow and fast rotation cases. The oscillations of the non-rotating cylinder ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=0$) develop under wake-body synchronization or lock-in, and their amplitude exhibits a bell-shaped evolution, typical of vortex-induced vibrations (VIV), as a function of $U^{\star }$. When $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}$ is increased from $0^{\circ }$ to $90^{\circ }$ (or decreased from $180^{\circ }$ to $90^{\circ }$), the bell-shaped curve tends to monotonically increase in width and magnitude. For all angles, the flow past the non-rotating body is two-dimensional with formation of two counter-rotating spanwise vortices per cycle. The behaviour of the system remains globally the same for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=1$. The principal effects of the slow rotation are a slight amplification of the VIV-like responses and widening of the vibration windows, as well as a limited asymmetry of the responses and forces about the symmetrical configuration $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}=90^{\circ }$. The impact of the fast rotation ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=3$) is more pronounced: VIV-like responses persist over a range of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}$ but, outside this range, the system is found to undergo a transition towards galloping-like oscillations characterised by amplitudes growing unboundedly with $U^{\star }$. A quasi-steady modelling of fluid forcing predicts the emergence of galloping-like responses as $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}$ is varied, which suggests that they could be mainly driven by the mean flow. It, however, appears that flow unsteadiness and body motion remain synchronised in this vibration regime where a variety of multi-vortex wake patterns are uncovered. The interaction with flow dynamics results in deviations from the quasi-steady prediction. The successive steps in the evolution of the vibration amplitude versus $U^{\star }$, linked to wake pattern switch, are not captured by the quasi-steady approach. The flow past the rapidly-rotating, vibrating cylinder becomes three-dimensional over an interval of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}$ including the in-line oscillation configuration, with only a minor effect on the system behaviour.


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 990-1001
Author(s):  
Song Ma ◽  
Jianguo Tan ◽  
Xiankai Li ◽  
Jiang Hao

This paper establishes a novel mathematical model for computing the plume flow field of a carrier-based aircraft engine. Its objective is to study the impact of jet exhaust gases with high temperature, high speed and high pressure on the jet blast deflector. The working condition of the nozzle of a fully powered on engine is first determined. The flow field of the exhaust jet is then numerically simulated at different deflection angle using the three-dimensional Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations and the standard [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] turbulence method. Moreover, infra-red temperature tests are further carried out to test the temperature field when the jet blast deflector is at the [Formula: see text] deflection angle. The comparison between the simulation results and the experimental results show that the proposed computation model can perfectly describe the system. There is only 8–10% variation between them. A good verification is achieved. Moreover, the experimental results show that the jet blast deflector plays an outstanding role in driving the high-temperature exhaust gases. It is found that [Formula: see text] may be the best deflection angle to protect the deck and the surrounding equipment effectively. These data results provide a valuable basis for the design and layout optimization of the jet blast deflector and deck.


Author(s):  
T. I. Khabakhpasheva ◽  
A. A. Korobkin

The two-dimensional motion of a rigid body with a smooth surface is studied during its oblique impact on a liquid layer. The problem is coupled: the three degrees of freedom of the moving body are determined together with the liquid flow and the hydrodynamic pressure along the wetted part of the body surface. The impact process is divided into two temporal stages. During the first stage, the wetted region expands at a high speed with jetting flows at both ends of the wetted region. In the second stage, the free surface of the liquid is allowed to separate from the body surface. The position of the separation point is determined with the help of the Brillouin–Villat condition. Calculations are performed for elliptic cylinders of different masses and with different orientations and speeds before the impact. The horizontal and vertical displacements of the body, as well as its angle of rotation and corresponding speeds are investigated. The model developed remains valid until the body either touches the bottom of the liquid or rebounds from the liquid.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 528-535
Author(s):  
Yoichi Masuda ◽  
◽  
Masato Ishikawa

[abstFig src='/00290003/08.jpg' width='230' text='The tripedal robot “Martian petit”' ] Significant efforts to simplify the body structure of multi-legged walking robots have been made over the years. Of these, the Spring-Loaded-Inverted-Pendulum (SLIP) model has been very popular, therefore widely employed in the design of walking robots. In this paper, we develop a SLIP-based tripedal walking robot with a focus on the geometric symmetry of the body structure. The proposed robot possesses a compact, light-weight, and compliant leg modules. These modules are controlled by a distributed control law that consists of decoupled oscillators with only local force feedback. As demonstrated through experiments, the simplified design of the robot makes possible the generation of high-speed dynamic locomotion. Despite the structural simplicity of the proposed model, the generation of several gait-patterns is demonstrated. The proposed minimalistic design approach with radial symmetry simplifies the function of each limb in the three-dimensional gait generation of the robot.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Piccinini ◽  
Valentina Vincenzi

The high-speed railway line between Bologna and Florence (Italy) is mostly developed underground through the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine, and the tunnels severely impacted groundwater and surface water. The 15-km-long Firenzuola tunnel crosses siliciclastic turbidites: during drilling, water inrushes occurred at fault and fracture zones, and the tunnel continues to drain the aquifer. The water table dropped below the level of the valleys, and gaining streams transformed into losing streams or ran completely dry, as did many springs. Hydrological observations and two multitracer tests have previously characterized the stream-tunnel connections and the impact processes. In the framework of planning mitigation strategies to minimize impacts on stream baseflow, three-dimensional numerical modelling with MODFLOW (the EPM approach) is applied to evaluate the artificial minimum flow needed to maintain flow continuity along the stream during the recession phase. The establishment of the two presented models is based on hydrogeological monitoring data and the results of flow measurements and tracer tests. Maximum flow rates subtracted from stream baseflow by the tunnel along the connection structures are calculated for two streams with major impacts.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-325
Author(s):  
Farshad Zamiri ◽  
Abdolreza Nabavi

AbstractMicrowave holography technique reconstructs a target image using recorded amplitudes and phases of the signals reflected from the target with Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)-based algorithms. The reconstruction algorithms have two or more steps of two- and three-dimensional Fourier transforms, which have a high computational load. In this paper, by neglecting the impact of target depth on image reconstruction, an efficient Fresnel-based algorithm is proposed, involving only one-step FFT for both single- and multi-frequency microwave imaging. Numerous tests have been performed to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm including planar and non-planar targets, using the raw data gathered by means of a scanner operating in X-band. Finally, a low-cost and high-speed hardware architecture based on fixed-point arithmetic is introduced which reconstructs the planar targets. This pipeline architecture was tested on field programmable gate arrays operating at 200 MHz clock frequency, which illustrates more than 30 times improvement in computation time compared with a computer.


1977 ◽  
Vol 19 (81) ◽  
pp. 175-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gorow Wakahama ◽  
Atsushi Sato

AbstractWhen snow is pushed very fast by a moving body a plastic wave is generated at the head of the body. If the velocity of the moving body becomes close to that of the plastic wave, the snow may exert a great resistive force against the body as predicted by Yosida. It is, therefore, very important to study the dynamic behaviour of snow at a high rate of deformation, such as takes place when a snow plough is used on the highway, a train runs on a railroad covered with snow, or an avalanche occurs. Hence, this study is concerned with the safety and maintenance of winter traffic and transportation, and also with the generation and propagation of an avalanche. In order to clarify the detailed processes of the deformation of snow at high rates, laboratory experiments were made by compressing snow at high speed. The propagation of a plastic wave through snow was observed by using a high-speed camera and a pressure-detecting device. Analyses of the data obtained gave the velocity of the plastic wave for various kinds of snow whose density ranged from 0.17 to 0.46 Mg m-3and free-water content from o to 17%, whereby studies were made into the dependences on the density and free-water content of the velocity of the plastic wave. When the impact velocity was 4.3 ± 0.2 m s-1, the wave velocity ranged from 5 m s-1for a new snow to 12 m s-1for a fine-grained, well-settled snow. The plastic-wave velocity in wet snow was, in general, smaller than that in dry snow of the same density. Changes in density and structure of snow associated with the passage of a plastic wave were studied and discussed. The pressure at the wave front was measured; values of 0.1-0.3 bar were obtained, these are of the same order as the value estimated from theoretical formulae. The plastic-wave velocity was also observed for a confined snow, which showed a larger velocity and plastic strain than an unconfined snow.


1977 ◽  
Vol 19 (81) ◽  
pp. 175-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gorow Wakahama ◽  
Atsushi Sato

AbstractWhen snow is pushed very fast by a moving body a plastic wave is generated at the head of the body. If the velocity of the moving body becomes close to that of the plastic wave, the snow may exert a great resistive force against the body as predicted by Yosida. It is, therefore, very important to study the dynamic behaviour of snow at a high rate of deformation, such as takes place when a snow plough is used on the highway, a train runs on a railroad covered with snow, or an avalanche occurs. Hence, this study is concerned with the safety and maintenance of winter traffic and transportation, and also with the generation and propagation of an avalanche. In order to clarify the detailed processes of the deformation of snow at high rates, laboratory experiments were made by compressing snow at high speed. The propagation of a plastic wave through snow was observed by using a high-speed camera and a pressure-detecting device. Analyses of the data obtained gave the velocity of the plastic wave for various kinds of snow whose density ranged from 0.17 to 0.46 Mg m-3 and free-water content from o to 17%, whereby studies were made into the dependences on the density and free-water content of the velocity of the plastic wave. When the impact velocity was 4.3 ± 0.2 m s-1, the wave velocity ranged from 5 m s-1 for a new snow to 12 m s-1 for a fine-grained, well-settled snow. The plastic-wave velocity in wet snow was, in general, smaller than that in dry snow of the same density. Changes in density and structure of snow associated with the passage of a plastic wave were studied and discussed. The pressure at the wave front was measured; values of 0.1-0.3 bar were obtained, these are of the same order as the value estimated from theoretical formulae. The plastic-wave velocity was also observed for a confined snow, which showed a larger velocity and plastic strain than an unconfined snow.


Author(s):  
Kelvin C. P. Wang ◽  
Xuyang Li ◽  
Robert P. Elliott

Images of highway right-of-way are used widely by highway agencies through their photologging services to obtain visual information for the analysis of traffic accidents, design improvement, and highway pavement management. The video data usually are in analog format, which is limited in accessibility and search, cannot automatically display site engineering data sets with video, and does not allow simultaneous access by multiple users. Recognizing the need to improve the existing photologging systems, the state highway agency of Arkansas sponsored a research project to develop a full digital, computer-based highway information system that extends the capabilities of existing photologging equipment. The software technologies developed for a distributed multimedia-based highway information system (MMHIS) are presented. MMHIS removes several limitations of the existing systems. The advanced technologies used in this system include digital video, data synchronization, high-speed networking, and video server. The developed system can dynamically link the digital video with the corresponding engineering site data based on a novel algorithm for the data synchronization. Also presented is a unique technique to construct a three-dimensional user interface for MMHIS based on the terrain map of Arkansas.


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