diff --git a/src/pyturmite/constants.py b/src/pyturmite/constants.py
index 62b9db5..dd529c3 100644
--- a/src/pyturmite/constants.py
+++ b/src/pyturmite/constants.py
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
-CANVAS_SIZE = 64
-N_STEPS = 8000
+CANVAS_SIZE = 8
+N_STEPS = 6000
 PLOT_MODE = "animate"
 CMAP = "Oranges"
-RULESET = "RLLR"
+RULESET = "RL"
 ANIMATION_INTERVAL = 1
+PADDING_SIZE = 2 # expand in each direction by this amount of cells
+SAVE_ANIMATION = False
+FRAME_SKIP = 2
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/pyturmite/turmites.py b/src/pyturmite/turmites.py
index abe0057..b2bb2e7 100644
--- a/src/pyturmite/turmites.py
+++ b/src/pyturmite/turmites.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import numpy as np
 import matplotlib.pylab as plt
-from pyturmite.constants import CMAP, RULESET
+from pyturmite.constants import CMAP, RULESET, PADDING_SIZE
 
 """
 The colors are modified in a cyclic fashion. 
@@ -101,3 +101,17 @@ def update(self):
         self.turn(colour)
         self.change_colour(self.x, self.y)
         self.move()
+
+        # expand canvas/grid if we moved outside it
+        if (
+            (self.x >= self.grid.shape[0]) or
+            (self.x < 0) or
+            (self.y >= self.grid.shape[1]) or
+            (self.y < 0)        
+        ):
+            self.expand_grid()
+
+    def expand_grid(self):
+        self.grid = np.pad(self.grid, PADDING_SIZE)
+        self.x += PADDING_SIZE
+        self.y += PADDING_SIZE
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/pyturmite/utils/plotters.py b/src/pyturmite/utils/plotters.py
index fe3a41e..cf135a3 100644
--- a/src/pyturmite/utils/plotters.py
+++ b/src/pyturmite/utils/plotters.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 from matplotlib.animation import FuncAnimation
 from functools import partial
-from pyturmite.constants import ANIMATION_INTERVAL
+from pyturmite.constants import ANIMATION_INTERVAL, SAVE_ANIMATION, FRAME_SKIP
 
 
 class Plotter:
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def animate(self, turmite, n_steps):
         )
         plt.axis("off")
 
-        def update(step, turmite, skip=5):
+        def update(step, turmite, skip=FRAME_SKIP):
             for _ in range(skip):
                 turmite.update()
             data = np.array(turmite.grid)
@@ -68,15 +68,12 @@ def update(step, turmite, skip=5):
             repeat=False,
         )
 
-        # writer = PillowWriter(
-        #     fps=30,
-        #     )
+        if SAVE_ANIMATION:
+            anim.save(
+                "example.mp4",
+                writer="ffmpeg",
+                fps=120,
+                progress_callback=lambda i, n: print(f"Saving frame {i}/{n}"),
+            )
 
-        anim.save(
-            "example.mp4",
-            writer="ffmpeg",
-            fps=120,
-            progress_callback=lambda i, n: print(f"Saving frame {i}/{n}"),
-        )
-
-        # plt.show()
+        plt.show()