A team of Swedish and Swiss researchers has developed a robotic wing that mimics the flight patterns of birds, paving the way for more efficient and advanced flapping drones. The robotic wing was developed after studies showed that birds are able to fly more efficiently by folding their wings during the upstroke.
The robotic wing developed by the team can flap more like a bird than previous robotic wings, while also flapping in ways that birds cannot. The researchers used a wind tunnel to study how different ways of achieving the wing upstroke affected the force and energy of flight. They found that birds flap their wings more horizontally when flying slowly, even though it requires more energy, because it is easier to create sufficiently large forces to stay aloft and propel themselves. This discovery can be used to increase the range of speeds at which drones can fly.
The new robotic wing has the potential to answer questions about bird flight that would be impossible to study by simply observing flying birds. Research into the flight ability of living birds is limited to the flapping movement that the bird actually uses. By creating a robotic wing that can flap like a bird, the researchers were able to better understand which movement patterns create the most force and are the most efficient.
The development of more efficient and advanced flapping drones has many potential uses, such as delivering goods. However, for drones to be used for deliveries, they must be efficient and able to lift the extra weight that deliveries entail. Understanding how the wings move is crucial for performance, making the research conducted by the Swedish-Swiss team particularly valuable.
Overall, the development of the feathered robotic wing is a significant step towards more efficient and advanced flapping drones. The discovery of the most efficient wing movement patterns can be applied in other research areas, such as better understanding how bird migration is affected by climate change and access to food. With the continued development of flapping drones, there may be a future where efficient and advanced drones are able to deliver goods to remote and hard-to-reach areas.
