A team of engineers led by Matt Keennon at California-based aerovironment developed the Nano hummingbird for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The Nano hummingbird is composed of four components; low-res camera, 6.5 inch wings, transmission and plastic shell. It is designed to mimic the flight of a hummingbird. It can fly up to 17.7 […]
Professor Ronald Fearing and his research team at the University of California, Berkeley, originally intended to create a robot that could navigate all types of terrain. When their first robot DASH, short for Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod, fell slightly short of their objective, they decided to attach wings to the robotic cockroach. Only later did […]
Of all the things that fly, Insects are possibly the least understood. Their small size and quick movements have made them much more difficult to study, and much of the research about insects has not yet become widely known. One such piece of knowledge that has not yet become common knowledge is the phenomenon of indirect flight.
A group of researchers from several American universities have begun a projet to develop a small unmanned aerial vehicle capable of flying like a bird. Lead by Professor Russ Tedrake of MIT they will attempt to build a UAV capable of navigating natural and urban environments at high speeds, much like small birds do. In their initial […]
Animal and insect wings are considerably different from those of an airplane. As a result, it isn’t much of a surprise that they use different mechanisms to generate lift. One of these peculiar mechanisms is the “clap and fling.” Torkel Weis-Fogh introduced this mechanism in order to explain the aerodynamic forces that some insects are […]
Hummingbirds are well known for their ability to hover, as are insects. However, hovering is a much more rare concept in larger animals, such as birds of prey. Birds of prey typically maintain their altitude while hunting by gliding around in circles, in order to generate lift. Kestrels, however, are the only bird of prey […]