Bumblebee flight inspires 'bad weather robot' design
BBC
18 September
Dr Sridhar Ravi, from Harvard University, records the flight of bumblebees in a wind tunnel. This allows Dr. Ravi to control the airflow the bees have to contend with. The researchers said in a paper, they studied bumblebees because they were "all-weather foragers". "The best micro air vehicles today, with a wingspan of less than 25cm long, struggle to fly stable even when in a light breeze." They recorded the bees with high-speed cameras to capture how the bees reacted and adjusted their flight to the airflow in slow motion. The tapes show the bees slow down in unsteady winds to allow more energy to be expended on re-correcting and adjusting flight paths. The scientists said that a better understanding of how natural flyers contend with turbulent wind would help "immensely" in the design of micro-air flyers that flew in adverse weather.
I think that it is very interesting that these scientists are trying to figure out how to get a micro air robot to be able to fly like a natural 'flyer'. I think that because this not only means we will have small tough flying robots but will also mean we have figured out the algorithm to flying like a bumblebee. This will also help in the future to unlocking other techniques of flight, not the conventional thrust and airflow over the wings, for example flapping.
I think that it is very interesting that these scientists are trying to figure out how to get a micro air robot to be able to fly like a natural 'flyer'. I think that because this not only means we will have small tough flying robots but will also mean we have figured out the algorithm to flying like a bumblebee. This will also help in the future to unlocking other techniques of flight, not the conventional thrust and airflow over the wings, for example flapping.
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