{"id":11243,"date":"2017-01-21T00:05:50","date_gmt":"2017-01-21T07:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=11243"},"modified":"2017-01-31T11:54:44","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T18:54:44","slug":"twisting-turning-and-nailing-the-landing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/twisting-turning-and-nailing-the-landing\/","title":{"rendered":"Twisting, Turning and Nailing the Landing"},"content":{"rendered":"

We like to think that our mastery of aerobatics is second to none, but aircraft only achieve a small part of the birds\u2019 ability to hover, swoop, and perch on a target at zero forward airspeed.\u00a0 Researchers in Switzerland and England, though, are making progress toward deeper emulation of nature\u2019s masters of flight.<\/p>\n

Our Fine Feathered Drone<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Dano Floreano and his team of researchers at\u00a0 Switzerland\u2019s \u00c9cole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale De Lausanne\u2019s (EPFL) Laboratory of Intelligent Systems,<\/a> obviously spent lots of time observing birds in flight, noting that our avian friends alter their wing configuration to \u201cchange direction, increase their speed or counter headwinds.\u201d\u00a0 Changing wing shape helps birds make near-instantaneous maneuvers.<\/p>\n

Floreano, attempting to mimic the birds\u2019 movements, helped develop a series of wing-tip elements that emulate the primary flight feathers on birds.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Matteo di Luca, one of the researchers, explained, “We were inspired by birds: they can radically transform the size and shape of their wings because they have an articulated skeleton that is controlled by muscles and covered in feathers that overlap when the wings are folded.\u201d \u00a0The drone also has feathers that it can fold and overlap like a fan.<\/p>\n