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From a tiny, agile bird to one of the most fearsome birds of prey, discover how researchers are taking their cues from mother nature to design what could be the next generation of drones.

More than five centuries ago, Leonardo da Vinci sketched detailed plans of a flying machine with flapping wings. His fascination with flying machines is now our reality, with airplanes and drones taking to the skies every day. Let's take a look at two recent drone inventions inspired by birds--ornithopters.

Man, machine, and nature

Drones help save lives and keep infrastructure well-maintained. They support law enforcement and can bring services and products to remote areas. Drone technology has many uses, but nature still has significant advantages over the common types of drones we see today. 

This is where biomimicry or biomimetics comes in. These two words come from the Greek words bios, which means life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate. 

Biomimicry studies nature as inspiration for designs and processes. And when it comes to the mechanics of flight, there may be no better inspiration than birds. 

Many researchers are developing and designing avian-inspired drones, which are called ornithopters. Proponents believe that they may be a safer, quieter, and more versatile option to existing drones.

Let’s see how two research teams have turned to nature to design their ornithopters.

Tailored to be swift

Swifts are one of the world’s fastest and most agile birds. They can fly at a speed of more than 160 kilometers per hour for as long as ten months without touching the ground. They can reach an altitude of 10,000 feet, similar to smaller jets. They can quickly adapt the shape of their wings to accommodate different flight speeds.

No wonder a team of researchers from Australia, China, Singapore, and Taiwan developed an ornithopter that mimics the swift’s aerobatic maneuvers.

At 26 grams, the ornithopter weighs the equivalent of two tablespoons of flour and can fly for eight minutes. Like its avian inspiration, it can dart, glide, hover, dive, and brake quickly from fast speeds. These capabilities are ideal for flying in cluttered and crowded environments--making them a safer option to conventional quadcopters.

Two pairs of wings utilize the “clap and fling” effect, according to aerospace engineer Dr. Javaan Chahl from the University of South Australia (UniSA). “The two pairs of wings flap such that they meet, like hands clapping. This makes enough extra thrust to lift their body weight when hovering,” says Dr. Chahl.

Its large tail allows for highly agile maneuvers. It can turn within a 32-millimeter radius and shift quickly from horizontal to vertical flight. Plus, it’s energy-efficient: it uses 40% less electrical power to generate the same amount of thrust as a comparable UAV with propellers.

Watch the video below to see the ornithopter hover and weave in a small space.

In this second video, the ornithopter is dropped from above. It swoops down and quickly levels off.

"The triple roles of flapping wings for propulsion, lift, and drag enable us to replicate the flight patterns of aggressive birds by simple tail control. Essentially, the ornithopter drone is a combination of a paraglider, airplane, and helicopter," shares Dr. Chahl.

Possible use cases

"The light weight and the slow beating wings of the ornithopter poses less danger to the public than quadcopter drones in the event of a crash and given sufficient thrust and power banks it could be modified to carry different payloads depending on what is required,” says project lead Dr. Yao-Wei Chin, Research Scientist at Temasek Laboratory at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Because it is small and has no propellers, the ornithopter could be used for pollinating indoor vertical farms without risking damage to the vegetation. Mounted with a camera, applications include crowd and traffic monitoring, wildlife surveying, and equipment inspection.

The power of a predator

This northern goshawk is a bird of prey that hunts inside or along the edges of forests. It has a long tail and short broad wings, both of which help the northern goshawk quickly maneuver through dense vegetation. 

Watch this fascinating BBC video of a northern goshawk flying through small spaces.

The northern goshawk can also cruise long distances at high speeds, hitting 61 kilometers an hour when hunting for its prey. It is this lethal combination of agility and power that makes the northern goshawk a fierce predator--and a brilliant inspiration for drone technology.

The LisHawk

“Goshawks move their wings and tails in tandem to carry out the desired motion, whether it is rapid changes of direction when hunting in forests, fast flight when chasing prey in the open terrain, or when efficiently gliding to save energy,” says Enrico Ajanic, a doctoral student at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL).

Developed by scientists led by Director Dario Floreano, the LisHawk's tail and wings are made of artificial feathers with morphing capabilities. The tail can fan outwards, move side to side, and up and down. Its wings can extend outwards or tuck inwards. These capabilities help the Lishawk adjust to different flying situations--from turning quickly at very high speeds to flying slowly. And to be more energy-efficient, it uses a propeller for forward thrust.

Watch this video to see the LisHawk in action.

“Flying slow is a challenge for any winged aircraft, since flying below a certain speed causes you to fall, and sometimes you want to fly slow to see things more clearly, or follow something that is slow,” says Dr. Floreano.

Artificial intelligence for autonomy

The LisHawk’s different wing and tail configurations make it more agile than other drones, but it also makes flying it more complex. The LisHawk has only been flown using radio controls, but the researchers plan to incorporate artificial intelligence into the LisHawk’s control system so that it can be semi-autonomous.

A bright horizon for the industry

The history of drones dates back to World War I when the United States and the United Kingdom first used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for reconnaissance and as weapons. More than a century later, drones have gone beyond military purposes and are being widely used across industries. 

The global drone market size is forecast to reach USD 41.3 billion by 2026, with sales growing to almost 1.4 million units. According to a report by Research and Markets, the energy industry has seen the highest adoption of drones. Mapping and surveying remains the top use of drones, followed by inspection and photography and filming. 

From rescue operations and journalism to agriculture and cargo transport, we’ve seen how drones can increase work efficiency and productivity in various industries. In the future, it will be interesting to see how ornithopters will spread their wings and reach new heights for the drone industry.

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