Modal Locomotion of C. elegans

Abstract

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is a roundworm that, thanks to its combination of biological simplicity and behavioral richness, offers an excellent opportunity for initial experimentation of many human diseases. In this work, we introduce a locomotion model for C. elegans, which can enable in-silico validation of behavioral experiments prior to physical experimentation with actual C. elegans specimens. Our model enables interactive simulation of self-propelling C. elegans, using as sole input biologically inspired muscle forces and frictional contact. The key to our model is a simple locomotion control strategy that activates selected natural vibration modes of the worm. We perform an offline analysis of the natural vibration modes, select those that best match the deformation of the worm during locomotion, and design force profiles that activate these vibration modes in a coordinated manner. Together with force compensation for momentum conservation and an anisotropic friction model, we achieve locomotions that match qualitatively those of real-world worms. Our approach is general, and could be extended to the locomotion of other types of animals or characters.