A (brief) Case for Science: Insect-inspired airplanes
By Elizabeth Case
Nov. 20, 2013 1:41 a.m.
Research at UCLA is a $1 billion industry, funding a lot of curiosity and labor. “A Case for Science” is a new podcast by Daily Bruin Radio that will detail the depth, breadth and wealth of research that goes on behind laboratory doors around campus. From growing new bones out of stem cells to proving the existence of a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, scientists here are at the forefront of their fields.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s an … insect-inspired, unmanned vehicle? Jeff Eldredge, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCLA, models how fluids interact with solids. Right now, he’s investigating how insect flight can be applied to micro-air vehicles – flying contraptions under 20 cm. Traditionally, planes have been modeled after birds, but insect flight has evolved to hover and zoom in ways that could revolutionize small-scale flight.
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Want to learn more about fluid dynamics and Eldredge’s work? He directs the SOFIA lab and puts his modeling to work for applications as varied as sleep apnea, flight patterns and schools of fish.
Artist Frank Ehling captured flies and used them to pilot his model airplanes. Read more about the aviation artist on the Smithsonian’s Airspace Blog.
Check out these models of the robot dragonfly, designed by TechJect.
Check out Harvard’s RoboBees: next generation bee hives http://wyss.harvard.edu/viewpressrelease/110/.
Is that a hummingbird or a robot bird watching me through that window? Watch a video of a robot hummingbird in action, courtesy of the Associated Press.
