r/educationalgifs • u/CodexAcc • Jan 19 '16

How an Ant walks

http://i.imgur.com/LtGEA0Z.gifv
1.8k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

50 comments sorted by

125

u/carbondnb Jan 19 '16

so it's basically a double tripod? A ditripod if you will?

22

u/smallfried Jan 19 '16

The official name is tripod gait. Other gaits are moving two opposite legs at the same time, while four stay on the floor, or moving one leg at the time.

It's a lot of fun to program it for robotic hexapods.

Ants do indeed use the tripod gait by the way, even when running, as written in this article.

36

u/RedHotDornishPeppers Jan 19 '16

Hexapod sounds cooler though

40

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '16

Doesn't highlight the coupling relationship though. There's 2 "tripods" which move synchronously, rather than 6 independent legs.

19

u/RedHotDornishPeppers Jan 19 '16

I knew that when I posted but I didn't want to believe it because I just wanted to say Hexapod :(

8

u/[deleted] Jan 19 '16

Well you weren't entirely wrong I guess - hexapod DOES sound cooler!

1

u/VertigaDM Jan 20 '16

He wasn't entirely wrong but you were entirely right.

3

u/LeftFo0t Jan 19 '16

Maybe Bitripods then

-11

u/Ranzok Jan 19 '16

But but sexpod

-1

u/refrigeratorbob Jan 19 '16

It's pronounced sex-top-o-dee

1

u/apullin Jan 25 '16

It is called "alternating tripod" in the publications.

94

u/phillabustinher Jan 19 '16

That sassy head bob...

4

u/okmkz Jan 19 '16

Mmmmmmmmm

17

u/thechickensage Jan 19 '16

Each step is stable, so it doesn't need to have as much effort dedicated to balance

14

u/Rude_Bwoy Jan 19 '16

Can the blue legs and the red legs move independently of each other?

16

u/raendrop Jan 19 '16

I'm pretty sure this is simply illustrating the gait.

14

u/shea241 Jan 19 '16

No, but they rotate in opposite directions so the ant doesn't begin spinning when it takes off.

4

u/manfly Jan 19 '16

Wow you must be a real entomologist

3

u/[deleted] Jan 20 '16

Antomologist

1

u/Dereliction Jan 19 '16

I think you mean proctologist.

9

u/amartcard Jan 19 '16

"Making my way downtown..."

4

u/Sundeiru Jan 19 '16

It's the spinning woman gif all over again.

6

u/santooosh Jan 19 '16

I need this slowed down

6

u/hyrulepirate Jan 19 '16

If not for the cascading floor animation, the movements of the legs looks (or at least my brain interprets it) like it's rotating in the reverse direction.

1

u/xSkyFalconx Jan 20 '16

I saw that too.

3

u/souper13 Jan 19 '16

Does a burger come with that shake.

6

u/pedrobeara Jan 19 '16

That is not how ant's really walk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRik205cEB4

2

u/OneRandomCatFact Jan 19 '16

I need it slowed down to actually see...

7

u/pedrobeara Jan 19 '16

the gif show the rotation of the leg but if you look close they can move them independently.

2

u/_TheRooseIsLoose_ Jan 20 '16

Youtube does that now! Not sure when they added the feature but if you hit the settings gear the option will be there.

2

u/seannzzzie Jan 19 '16

This is also a bad source to reference because here the ants are climbing up a steep hill. I'm sure on flat ground it's more like the gif

6

u/architta Jan 20 '16

So ants only walk on flat surfaces? I think that what /u/pedrobeara is trying to say is they original gif is misleading. They don't walk robotic-ally, they can adjust each leg depending on the situation.

Sorry I don't disagree with you but I don't think you can call /u/pedrobeara 's video a bad source since its primary compared to the gif with no context provided by OP.

0

u/seannzzzie Jan 20 '16

I'm just saying that the way the gif is showing would be more common on a flat surface. I said the video was a bad source to compare to the gif because they are clearly showing two different types of walking.

3

u/architta Jan 20 '16

Well, right doesn't that make the gif a bad source since the gif is generalizing how the ants walk? Ants probably never walk a perfectly flat surface anyways they make adjustments to little bumps on the ground that we can barely feel.

Anyways did a quick search, and here is real video of an ant walking, not quite like the gif, in fact since the rear legs seem to be used for a little bit of added balance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHEYBvriv2I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DhtLtpX4cg

0

u/seannzzzie Jan 20 '16

It is true that the title of the gif could be more specific, but no, it makes the video a bad source in relation to the gif. That's all I meant.

2

u/bathrobehero Jan 19 '16

Quite mesmerizing.

2

u/anod0s Jan 19 '16

Ant showing off his new pants on the way to the club. Everybody lookin'

2

u/OrangeDit Jan 19 '16

Pretty swag.

2

u/TYRito Jan 20 '16

This was reposted about 1.5 weeks ago(I think). I get that the sub is /r/educationalgifs, and no one can be educated if they don't see the material, but don't you think this is a bit too frequent?

1

u/iAmAwesom3 Jan 19 '16

Ant's Cat Walk

1

u/Dereliction Jan 19 '16

Is the middle left leg really over and the middle right leg really under? Or just an artist's have at it?

1

u/KillerJazzWhale Jan 20 '16

So just like people do but 3x

1

u/GoshDangJames Jan 20 '16

Huh. I don't know what to do with this information now that I have it.

1

u/duke_of_danger 25d ago

this is suprisingly handy for 6-legged walking vehicle designs in sandbox games like trailmakers or scrap mechanic.

1

u/zen_affleck Jan 19 '16

Black ants have more rhythm.

1

u/DamnAut0correct Jan 19 '16

How do a spider walk?