Working at a crossroad between biology and engineering, scientists have modeled and are now mimicking the ingenious natural design of falling geckoes, gliding snakes, cruising seagulls, flapping insects and floating maple seeds to improve the design of air vehicles.
IOP Publishing's Bioinspiration & Biomimetics publishes a special edition today, Wednesday 24 November 2010, entitled Bioinspired Flight, comprising of nine journal papers which display the wealth of knowledge being accrued by researchers in the field.
Nature outclasses man's best efforts at robotic flight, as even the geometry and descent dynamics of a simple maple seed lead one research team from the University of Maryland, led by Dr. Evan Ulrich, to show that micro helicopters could be much simplified by imitating the maple seed's wing pitch for controlled hovering and, surprisingly, forward flight.
The issue, starting with two papers on tactics employed for controlled descent by geckoes and flying snakes, is accompanied by a selection of films - four of which are available on YouTube.
The first film, from a team led by graduate student Ardian Jusufi from UC Berkeley, shows how researchers have studied the gecko's trick of employing its tail to right and turn itself mid-air, helping it always fall on its feet, and have now made a robot model gecko which can employ the same grace on descent.
A second film from Professor Jake Socha and his team at Virginia Tech displays the mystifying skills of flying snakes, which direct their flight mid-air by slithering.
Moving on from tactical descent, the special edition also covers humming birds' perfect hover; birds' intuitive exploitation of thermal updrafts; the mechanical motion of insects' wings, and seagulls' magnificent sense of flight environment, which allows them incredible angles of attack and increased control in crosswinds.
As the special edition's editor, Professor David Lentink from Wageningen University, writes in an accompanying editorial, "Because biologists and engineers are typically trained quite differently, there is a gap between the understanding of natural flight of biologists and the engineer's expertise in designing vehicles that function well. In the middle however is a few pioneering engineers who are able to bridge both fields."
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the Institute of Physics
Subscribe
Scientists 'read' the ash from the Icelandic volcano 2 years after its eruption
The millennium-old olive trees of the Iberian Peninsula are younger than expected
Science nugget: Lightning signature could help reveal the solar system's origins
Antarctic octopus sheds light on ice-sheet collapse
Power generation technology based on piezoelectric nanocomposite materials developed
Scientists make stunning inner space observations
Molecular spectroscopy tracks living mammalian cells in real time as they differentiate
Mini cargo transporters on a rat run
Women have bigger pupils than men
Novel radiation surveillance technology could help thwart nuclear terrorism
Purple sea urchin metamorphosis controlled by histamine
Scholars to apply facial recognition software to unidentified portrait subjects
World's largest digital camera project passes critical milestone
'Inhabitants of Madrid' ate elephants? meat and bone marrow 80,000 years ago
Robots fighting wars could be blamed for mistakes on the battlefield
X-rays create a window on glass formation
Can sound science guide dispersant use during subsea oil spills?
How Usain Bolt can run faster -- effortlessly
Growing market for human organs exploits poor
Chimpanzees have policemen, too
Playful learning inside a square
Can consuming caffeine while breastfeeding harm your baby?
Discovery of extremely long-lived proteins may provide insight into cell aging
Detailed picture of how myoV 'walks' along actin tracks
Enhancing cognition in older adults also changes personality
A new artificial intelligence technique to speed the planning of tasks when resources are limited
Film coatings made from whey
If a fat tax is coming, here's how to make it efficient, effective
Swarming and transporting
Jellyfish inspires latest ocean-powered robot
Chemists mimic nature to design better medical tests
Studying butterfly flight to help build bug-size flying robots
A spider web's strength lies in more than its silk
Scorpions inspire scientists in making tougher surfaces for machinery
Snakes improve search-and-rescue robots
Leaping lizards and dinosaurs inspire robot design