FIG. 2.

Graphical depictions of a 3D contact point location resulting in mechanical signals at the whisker base and a mapping of the inverse. (a) Elastica3D finds the forces and moments at the whisker base given the 3D contact point location. When a whisker contacts an object, it generates a single contact point between the whisker and the object (r_cp, θ_cp, φ_cp) (left panel) and a point force on the whisker (F_applied, s_applied, ζ_applied) (center panel). Elastica3D can be used to compute the resultant forces and moments at the whisker base (F and M) (right panel) and has been the subject of several previous studies.^19–21 (b) The goal of the present work was to use Elastica3D to invert the process described in (a), in other words, to determine the 3D contact point location given various combinations of forces and moments at the whisker base.