Home▸Ecology & Conservation Biology▸Spider Web Wave Lattice: 2D Mass-Spring Vibration Model

Spider Web Wave Lattice: 2D Mass-Spring Vibration Model

Interactive 2D companion to the 3D orb-web sim: instead of computing each leg's signal from a closed-form distance formula, this model actually simulates the web as a damped mass-spring lattice and lets a real transverse wave propagate outward, reflect off the pinned hub, and arrive at each leg at its own physically-computed time.

Ecology & Conservation Biology2DAdvanced60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

The 3D orb-web sim decodes prey direction and distance from a single algebraic formula evaluated once per strike. This 2D companion asks a stricter question: if you actually build the web as a network of masses joined by damped springs and let a real transverse wave equation run, does the same physical story — radii carry vibration efficiently, the sticky capture spiral carries it poorly, distance and direction can be recovered from amplitude and arrival time — still hold? It does, and now every number on screen (arrival time, peak amplitude, noise floor) comes from watching an actual simulated wave propagate through a pinned mass-spring lattice via symplectic-Euler integration, reflect internally, and decay under a physically parameterized damping ratio, rather than from a distance-based closed form. Strike the web to send a real disturbance outward and watch the eight-leg sensor array read it as it genuinely arrives.

⚙ Under the hood

Strike an orb web and watch a real damped mass-spring lattice propagate the resulting transverse wave outward, reflect off the pinned hub and arrive at each of eight leg sensors at its own physically-simulated time and amplitude — no closed-form distance formula, a genuinely integrated wave equation.

spiderbiotremologyvibrationwave propagationmass-spring latticeorb websensory biology

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install