homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Robotic bat wing teaches scientists new things about aerodynamics

For some time now, researchers have been experimenting with the idea of an aircraft that operates with flapping wings, just like insects or birds do, instead of conventional flat and long wings. The idea is that flapping wings allow a much greater degree of control and stability, allowing the aircraft to perform maneuvers otherwise impossible. […]

Tibi Puiu
February 27, 2013 @ 6:35 am

share Share

A robotic bat wing lets researchers measure forces, joint movements, and flight parameters, and learn more about how the real thing operates in nature (credit: Breuer and Swartz labs/Brown University)

A robotic bat wing lets researchers measure forces, joint movements, and flight parameters, and learn more about how the real thing operates in nature (credit: Breuer and Swartz labs/Brown University)

For some time now, researchers have been experimenting with the idea of an aircraft that operates with flapping wings, just like insects or birds do, instead of conventional flat and long wings. The idea is that flapping wings allow a much greater degree of control and stability, allowing the aircraft to perform maneuvers otherwise impossible. Still, such concepts are very difficult to implement and there’s still a lot of science behind these flapping wing dynamics to be uncovered, before a working, manned model can be made.

Steps in this direction are made constantly, and most recently researchers at Brown University developed a robotic bat wing that mimics that of a real fruitbat wing, which has allowed them to gain new insights into flapping flight dynamics in bats – the function of ligaments, the elasticity of skin, the structural support of musculature, skeletal flexibility, upstroke, and downstroke.

The robot wing is attached to a  force transducer in a wind tunnel that records the aerodynamic forces generated by the moving wing. By measuring the power output of the three servo motors that control the robot’s seven movable joints, researchers can evaluate the energy required to execute wing movements. Testing showed the robot can match the basic flight parameters of bats, producing enough thrust to overcome drag and enough lift to carry the weight of the model species.

This kind of data could have never been possible to generate, since real life bats can’t fly when connected to monitoring and recording instruments – they’re kind of bugged by it. But that’s not an issue now, since the researchers are even more contempt with their artificial model. With it, they can change and adjust any kind of parameter and see which are the most important in controlling flight dynamics.

“We can answer questions like, ‘Does increasing wing beat frequency improve lift and what’s the energetic cost of doing that?’” said Joseph Bahlman, a graduate student at Brown who led the project. “We can directly measure the relationship between these kinematic parameters, aerodynamic forces, and energetics.”

To understand just how valuable these new insights have been, let’s take a look at wing folding. Previously, scientists were led to believe that birds would fold their wings during flight from time to time to save energy. Test runs with the robotic bat wing, however, have shown that this behavior is all about generating lift.

In a flapping animal, positive lift is generated by the downstroke, but some of that lift is undone by the subsequent upstroke, which generates negative lift. By running trials with and without wing folding, the robot showed that folding the wing on the upstroke dramatically decreases that negative lift, increasing net lift by 50 percent.

The next step is to start playing with the materials,” Bahlamn said. “We’d like to try different wing materials, different amounts of flexibility on the bones, looking to see if there are beneficial tradeoffs in these material properties.”

Check out the Brown University below detailing the bat robotic wing study.

Findings were reported in the journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetrics.

share Share

One-Third of the World's Scavengers are Disappearing And This Could Trigger a Human Health Crisis

Nature’s least loved animals are dying fast. This could make the environment stinky and pathogens unstoppable.

Scientists Catch Two Wild Orcas "French Kissing" And It Might Mean More Than You Think

Scientists believe the habit is a part of social bonding.

Wild Orcas Are Offering Fish to Humans and Scientists Say They May Be Trying to Bond with Us

Scientists recorded 34 times orcas offered prey to humans over 20 years.

This Shark Expert Has Spent Decades Studying Attacks and Says We’ve Been Afraid for the Wrong Reasons

The cold truth about shark attacks and why you’re safer than you think.

What if Every Roadkill Had a Memorial?

Road ecology, the scientific study of how road networks impact ecosystems, presents a perfect opportunity for community science projects.

This Bear Lived Two Years With a Barrel Lid Stuck on Its Neck Before Finally Being Freed

A Michigan bear wore a plastic ring for two years. Somehow, it’s doing just fine.

These Squirrels Are Hunting and Eating Meat and Scientists Only Just Noticed

California ground squirrels surprise scientists with their newly discovered taste for mammalian flesh.

Octopuses use microbes to "taste" their surroundings with their arms

As if octopuses weren't stunning enough.

Wasp Mums Keep Remarkable Mental To-Do List For Multiple Nests Despite Tiny Brain

The childcare schedule of female digger wasps is impressive to say the least.

Elephant Trunk-Like Arm Turns Ordinary Drones Into Powerful, All-Purpose Flying Robots

Drones equipped with this robotic trunk get a massive dexterity upgrade.