Delta-winged aircraft have been around for several decades, and their use has revolutionized the aerospace industry. Yet apparently nature had already designed a delta-winged glider long before humans had lifted themselves off of the ground. Delta wing designs are named for their triangular shape, and roughly 225 million years ago nature had produced a small, bipedal, lizard-like glider with a similarly triangular shape.
BU Links
Tags
aquatic birds auto-rotation bats Bio-Aerial Locomotion bio-inspired engineering biomimetics biomimicry birds colugo drag dragonfly eagle evolution falling Festo fish flapping flight flight flying formation gecko geese gliding hovering hummingbird insects lift lizard micro-air vehicles morphing wings owl penguins pterosaurs robot samara sea creatures seed smartbird snakes soaring spiders squid vortices wakes Wings