Scientists Are Taking Clues From Bats, Bees, And Hummingbirds To Make More Agile Drones

Aadhya Khatri - Aug 07, 2019


Scientists Are Taking Clues From Bats, Bees, And Hummingbirds To Make More Agile Drones

The natural world is filled with incredible flying animals that can pull off lots of cool actions. They are now inspirations for scientists to make drones

The natural world is filled with incredible flying animals that can pull off all kinds of cool actions, from bats that can hang themselves up-side-down to hummingbirds that can zip about in several different directions.

They have always been more agile and flexible than any kind of aircraft human have ever made. However, scientists are trying to change that. Take inspiration from nature itself, they are making ultra-light drones that have flapping wings instead of propellers.

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A hummingbird-inspired drone

The scientists have big plans for them. In reality, they can inspect construction sites, gather data on weather conditions, and monitor traffic. They can do the job of bees in pollinating crops, and the police can use them for surveillance.

And after a few years, these drones can serve personal use too, like taking pictures from many angles, parching on owners’ shoulder, and even help us keep an eye on elderly people so that we can be able to aid them in time.

According to Alireza Ramezani, a roboticist of the Northeastern University, Boston, US, these drones will not disturb human while they operate:

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Inspired By Nature

If you have watched Eye in the Sky, you may remember the bird and beetle drones in the movie. In principle, the said animal-inspired drones are similar to them.

For the time being, these tiny unmanned aircraft are still at the prototype stage, and we may have to wait for years for them to make it to reality. However, scientists are working to help them fly farther and carry equipment like radios, cameras, or sensors onboard. Someday, they might even collaborate to pull off difficult tasks.

Bat’s agility stemming from the ability to fold the wings into several different shapes has served as an inspiration for Ramezani team. The drone the team is testing has a carbon-fiber skeleton, and wings from the thin and stretchy membrane. It weighs around three-ounce and its wingspan measures one foot.

bat-bot-drone
The bat-inspired drone the team is testing has a carbon-fiber skeleton, and wings from a thin and stretchy membrane

For now, the drone can only handle basic maneuvers like zipping out in a straight line, diving, and turning. The team is researching to give it the ability to perform more difficult acts like landing up-side-down. This study on bio-inspired uncrewed aircraft can also benefit regular drones with propellers and fixed wings when it comes to agility and safety.

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The drones that take inspiration from animals usually have flexible and soft bodies so they will pose no threat to people who want to touch them. They can also bounce off if hitting obstacles without any severe damage.

According to Xinyan Deng, a mechanical engineer at Purdue University, these new drones will be able to fly through tight space which would otherwise be impossible for typical drones with the current design. He is working on a prototype for a small aircraft that resembles hummingbirds.

Deng’s team presented the drone, which features flexible wings and a 3D-printed body, at a robotics conference in Montreal in May. It also has the weight and size of a real hummingbird.

Deng team’s drone can pull off complex maneuvers like following figure 8 or turn 180 degrees after beating the wings a few times, close to the way a real hummingbird does in nature to escape predators.

Much as their abilities to fly in complicated maneuvers are impressive, bats and hummingbirds are not the sole inspiration for new drones. The United Kingdom’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory and Animal Dynamics of Oxford are working to make a drone that resembles a dragon.

And recently, Harvard University has successfully made a drone that is even lighter than a paper clip. It has two pair of wings that are powered by solar energy. It can fly without connecting by wires to a power source.

Drone Swarms

Maneuverability and the small size are not the only benefits of drones inspired by animals. According to Farrell Helbling, a member of the RoboBee team, these aircraft can also be inexpensive to make and deployed in a vast number.

RoboBee-drone
The RoboBee

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Ramezani said that a swarm of bat bots could be used to inspect construction sites and alert people of threat like collapsing structures. They can present all the time at the place they are assigned to monitor. If one needs power, it can stop somewhere and recharge while another one replaces it.

On the flip side, may worry that the drones can be used for shady intention as they can infiltrate in places others are currently unable to reach.

For now, there are many problems that researchers must find solutions. The two most pressing issues are how to make the best power source for them and whether they should be allowed to operate without a human moderator.

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