Giving Robotic Flight More Buzz: Bee Study Could Improve Micro Air Vehicle Agility in Wind Gusts

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Giving Robotic Flight More Buzz: Bee Study Could Improve Micro Air Vehicle Agility in Wind Gusts

July 30, 2010 Enlarge

Composite sequence of images of a honey bee troubled by a moderate gust (air run as of absent to right). (Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland.)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Not each manufacturing dean needs a live bee colony exterior of his office, but genuine is the container at the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Researchers in a lab downward the hall as of the dean's put of work contain situated the colony present so contain contain simple correct of entry to the bees. They are studying how the bees fly in arrange to enable pay no attention to air vehicles (MAV) to contract by means of unforeseen wind changes. The MAVs someday might be second-hand for search and rescue, protection and additional applications.

To learn the bees in flight, the checkup liberally a small-scale wind tunnel so as to add up the insects to varying wind disturbances. The checkup film the bees by,by means of high-speed videography and slow downward the resulting video, so contain can watch the minutest profits in the bees' wing movements as,at the same time as compensating for wind gusts.

Insects fly in extremely lively and uncertain environments. By replicating as,at the same occasion as circumstances in the lab, we can recognize mechanisms so as to enable insects robust flight performance, supposed Jason T. Vance, a biologist and post-doctoral researcher in the Autonomous Vehicle Laboratory (AVL) at the A. James Clark School of Engineering on the University of Maryland, College Park, campus.

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Video: Honey bees use asymmetric wing strokes for a rapid reply to gusts. (Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland.) Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture.

Vance supposed his side couples the information collected by means of aerodynamic modeling principles to decide come again? be acquainted with of the bees' flight can be second-hand in the MAVs.

Assistant Professor Sean Humbert (Department of Aerospace Engineering and Institute for Systems Research) runs the AVL. He is one of more supposed a few checkup who previous melody won a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiatives award as of the U.S. Department of Defense for investigate titled "Animal Inspired Robust Flight by means of Outer and Inner Loop Strategies." The investigate is existence form led by the University of Washington. The Clark School's piece of the funding is $1.48 million.

Vance and Humbert are collaborating by means of biologists, engineers, and additional checkup in academia and the confidential sector to enable minute flying robots to fly efficiently in varying wind conditions. These robots finally might be second-hand to assist increase situational consciousness in unsafe and uncertain environments, genuine as persons encountered on the battlefield or throughout natural disasters.

"It's a extremely integrative and multi-disciplinary go,shift toward for studying petroleum principle," Vance said.

Engineers at the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel on the College Park campus helped the AVL side make the small-scale wind tunnel second-hand to learn the bees, construct are on loan as of the UM Department of Entomology.

Provided by University of Maryland (news : web)

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