Bioinspired wing and tail morphing extends drone flight capabilities
The aerodynamic designs of winged drones are optimized for specific flight regimes. Large lifting surfaces provide maneuverability and agility but result in larger power consumption, and thus lower range, when flying fast compared with small lifting surfaces. Birds like the northern goshawk meet the...
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ftinfoscience:oai:infoscience.epfl.ch:281209 2023-05-15T17:43:05+02:00 Bioinspired wing and tail morphing extends drone flight capabilities Ajanic, Enrico Feroskhan, Mir Mintchev, Stefano Noca, Flavio Floreano, Dario 2020-10-29T10:19:48Z https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abc2897 https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/281209/files/Screenshot%202022-09-14%20at%2016.28.06.png http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/281209 unknown doi:10.1126/scirobotics.abc2897 https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/281209/files/Screenshot%202022-09-14%20at%2016.28.06.png http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/281209 http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/281209 Text 2020 ftinfoscience https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abc2897 2023-02-13T23:02:13Z The aerodynamic designs of winged drones are optimized for specific flight regimes. Large lifting surfaces provide maneuverability and agility but result in larger power consumption, and thus lower range, when flying fast compared with small lifting surfaces. Birds like the northern goshawk meet these opposing aerodynamic requirements of aggressive flight in dense forests and fast cruising in the open terrain by adapting wing and tail areas. Here, we show that this morphing strategy and the synergy of the two morphing surfaces can notably improve the agility, maneuverability, stability, flight speed range, and required power of a drone in different flight regimes by means of an avian-inspired drone. We characterize the drone’s flight capabilities for different morphing configurations in wind tunnel tests, optimization studies, and outdoor flight tests. These results shed light on the avian use of wings and tails and offer an alternative design principle for drones with adaptive flight capabilities. Text Northern Goshawk EPFL Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne) Science Robotics 5 47 eabc2897 |
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EPFL Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne) |
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ftinfoscience |
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unknown |
description |
The aerodynamic designs of winged drones are optimized for specific flight regimes. Large lifting surfaces provide maneuverability and agility but result in larger power consumption, and thus lower range, when flying fast compared with small lifting surfaces. Birds like the northern goshawk meet these opposing aerodynamic requirements of aggressive flight in dense forests and fast cruising in the open terrain by adapting wing and tail areas. Here, we show that this morphing strategy and the synergy of the two morphing surfaces can notably improve the agility, maneuverability, stability, flight speed range, and required power of a drone in different flight regimes by means of an avian-inspired drone. We characterize the drone’s flight capabilities for different morphing configurations in wind tunnel tests, optimization studies, and outdoor flight tests. These results shed light on the avian use of wings and tails and offer an alternative design principle for drones with adaptive flight capabilities. |
format |
Text |
author |
Ajanic, Enrico Feroskhan, Mir Mintchev, Stefano Noca, Flavio Floreano, Dario |
spellingShingle |
Ajanic, Enrico Feroskhan, Mir Mintchev, Stefano Noca, Flavio Floreano, Dario Bioinspired wing and tail morphing extends drone flight capabilities |
author_facet |
Ajanic, Enrico Feroskhan, Mir Mintchev, Stefano Noca, Flavio Floreano, Dario |
author_sort |
Ajanic, Enrico |
title |
Bioinspired wing and tail morphing extends drone flight capabilities |
title_short |
Bioinspired wing and tail morphing extends drone flight capabilities |
title_full |
Bioinspired wing and tail morphing extends drone flight capabilities |
title_fullStr |
Bioinspired wing and tail morphing extends drone flight capabilities |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bioinspired wing and tail morphing extends drone flight capabilities |
title_sort |
bioinspired wing and tail morphing extends drone flight capabilities |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abc2897 https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/281209/files/Screenshot%202022-09-14%20at%2016.28.06.png http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/281209 |
genre |
Northern Goshawk |
genre_facet |
Northern Goshawk |
op_source |
http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/281209 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1126/scirobotics.abc2897 https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/281209/files/Screenshot%202022-09-14%20at%2016.28.06.png http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/281209 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abc2897 |
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Science Robotics |
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5 |
container_issue |
47 |
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eabc2897 |
_version_ |
1766145094387236864 |