Birds have the natural ability to fly freely in the air even with obstacles in their way, and this ability has inspired engineers to enhance drones. Specifically, researchers have built a wind tunnel to understand bird flight and devise a way to better design drones and aerial robots.
Spearheaded by Assistant Professor David Lentink from Stanford University, the researchers built a wind tunnel to study bird flight and apply their findings into developing better drones and aerial robots that can be used for delivery, search and rescue, and any applications in an urban environment where air conditions are unpredictable.
The wind tunnel was nearly 2 meters in length and had six windows wherein the team could observe and study the birds. It was also equipped with high-tech cameras that use motion tracking techniques that could capture every millisecond of the birds' flight.
To mimic air turbulence in an urban setting, the wind tunnel blows air through a fan that is nearly the size of a Volkswagen beetle. It's like a treadmill for the birds - hummingbirds, parrotlets and love-birds - used in the study. The speed of the wind can be manipulated precisely from 0 meter per second to 50 meters per second.
"You look up, and you'll see a pigeon swoop by casually. It has no problem stabilizing itself, flying around corners, dodging cables and landing on a perch," said Lentink.
The researchers observed bird flight from the tunnel and translated measurements along the the birds' wings as well as in the air into force dynamics.
From the data gathered, the researchers hope to use the wind tunnel to test aerial robots. The data will be used to design aerial robots' maneuverability in different turbulence levels, just like how the birds adjust to them.
Lentink also aims to design an aerial robot that would work just like a bird with wings that could be transformed into different shapes to maintain stability in different turbulence patterns.
"Our bird tunnel is really unique, and I'm incredibly thankful to my colleagues and the School of Engineering who thought it was an awesome idea to enable engineering students to study how birds fly to develop better flying robots and made this possible," he said.
