Shape matters: Body dynamics underlies efficient jumping

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Suñé, Marc, Selva, Lucas, Arratia, Cristóbal, Wettlaufer, John S., Vella, Dominic
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Suñé, Marc
Selva, Lucas
Arratia, Cristóbal
Wettlaufer, John S.
Vella, Dominic
author_facet Suñé, Marc
Selva, Lucas
Arratia, Cristóbal
Wettlaufer, John S.
Vella, Dominic
contents Many small animals, particularly insects, use power-amplification to generate rapid motions, such as jumping, that would otherwise be impossible given the standard power density of muscle. A common framework for understanding this power amplification is Latch-Mediated, Spring Actuated (LaMSA) jumping, in which a spring is slowly compressed, latched in its compressed state and the latch released to allow jumping. Motivated by the jumps of certain insect larvae, we consider an external latching mechanism via adhesion to a substrate that is quickly released for jumping. We show that the rate at which this adhesion is lost is crucial in determining the efficiency of jumping and, indeed, whether jumping occurs at all. As well as showing how release rate should be chosen to facilitate optimal jumping, our analysis underscores the importance of the interaction between latch-release dynamics and the elastic deformation of the jumper for power amplification, thereby providing new insight into the post-latch control of jumping.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_15856
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Shape matters: Body dynamics underlies efficient jumping
Suñé, Marc
Selva, Lucas
Arratia, Cristóbal
Wettlaufer, John S.
Vella, Dominic
Soft Condensed Matter
Many small animals, particularly insects, use power-amplification to generate rapid motions, such as jumping, that would otherwise be impossible given the standard power density of muscle. A common framework for understanding this power amplification is Latch-Mediated, Spring Actuated (LaMSA) jumping, in which a spring is slowly compressed, latched in its compressed state and the latch released to allow jumping. Motivated by the jumps of certain insect larvae, we consider an external latching mechanism via adhesion to a substrate that is quickly released for jumping. We show that the rate at which this adhesion is lost is crucial in determining the efficiency of jumping and, indeed, whether jumping occurs at all. As well as showing how release rate should be chosen to facilitate optimal jumping, our analysis underscores the importance of the interaction between latch-release dynamics and the elastic deformation of the jumper for power amplification, thereby providing new insight into the post-latch control of jumping.
title Shape matters: Body dynamics underlies efficient jumping
topic Soft Condensed Matter
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.15856