Mode-selection and mode-switching of an autonomous motor composed of a camphor rotor and a mobile loop

Mode-selection and mode-switching of self-motion were investigated for a loop driven by the movement of a camphor rotor on water, as a simple autonomous system. Three modes of self-motion (caterpillar motion, translation, and alternating mode-switching between them) were selectively generated depending on the state of a knot of the loop. The experimental results were numerically reproduced and categorized by using a differential equation of rotation with a fold bifurcation.