Studying Bird Flight in Turbulence
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Aerospace Engineering
Abstract
The unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) sector is growing rapidly - particularly those of a wingspan below 1.5m, known as micro aerial vehicles (MAVs), which have widespread application for survey work and aerial reconnaissance. MAVs typically operate at low altitudes, which are subject to significant turbulence generated from Earth's atmospheric boundary layer(ABL). Turbulence in the ABL critically limits the operation and performance of MAVs, which have less mass and inertia to resist fluctuations in their flight environment.
Nature's fliers - particularly birds, which are of a similar scale and operating environment to MAVs - have evolved an impressive variety of turbulence mitigation capabilities. One example is the common kestrel, which is one of very few species that can windhover - a hunting behaviour where the bird keeps its head in a fixed position relative to the ground, so it can steadily observe prey below. This behaviour can be achieved with or without flapping(hanging flight), the study of which can provide fixed wing and morphing wing MAVs important insights into sustaining steady flight in highly challenging environments.
Study of the turbulence mitigation kinematic of kestrels during hanging flight will provide bio-inspired insights for the development of fixed and morphing wing MAVs with significantly improved flight capacity and performance.
The study of kestrel windhovering kinematics uses a state of the art motion capture system to track retro reflective markers attached to key features on the kestrels' wings and body. Kestrels have been successfully trained to windhover in RMIT University's Industrial Wind Tunnel (L9 x W3 x H2 m) under various configurations of passively generated, well-mixed turbulence.
Highly accurate (<1mm accuracy, 300Hz) kinematic data is recorded, processed and analysed for trends in the birds' morphological configurations and control manoeuvres, which will be tested and validated by experimental wind tunnel models.
This project falls within the EPSRC fluid dynamics and aerodynamics research area.
Nature's fliers - particularly birds, which are of a similar scale and operating environment to MAVs - have evolved an impressive variety of turbulence mitigation capabilities. One example is the common kestrel, which is one of very few species that can windhover - a hunting behaviour where the bird keeps its head in a fixed position relative to the ground, so it can steadily observe prey below. This behaviour can be achieved with or without flapping(hanging flight), the study of which can provide fixed wing and morphing wing MAVs important insights into sustaining steady flight in highly challenging environments.
Study of the turbulence mitigation kinematic of kestrels during hanging flight will provide bio-inspired insights for the development of fixed and morphing wing MAVs with significantly improved flight capacity and performance.
The study of kestrel windhovering kinematics uses a state of the art motion capture system to track retro reflective markers attached to key features on the kestrels' wings and body. Kestrels have been successfully trained to windhover in RMIT University's Industrial Wind Tunnel (L9 x W3 x H2 m) under various configurations of passively generated, well-mixed turbulence.
Highly accurate (<1mm accuracy, 300Hz) kinematic data is recorded, processed and analysed for trends in the birds' morphological configurations and control manoeuvres, which will be tested and validated by experimental wind tunnel models.
This project falls within the EPSRC fluid dynamics and aerodynamics research area.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Shane Windsor (Primary Supervisor) | |
| George Yi (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP/T517872/1 | 01/10/2020 | 30/09/2025 | |||
| 2679893 | Studentship | EP/T517872/1 | 01/04/2022 | 31/12/2023 | George Yi |