David Lentink of Stanford University stands next to a bird inside the test section of the
wind tunnel.
Credit: Linda Cicero
A specially designed wind tunnel for birds could help scientists learn the secrets of avian aerial abilities and translate them into drones that are masters of flying through rough-and-tumble conditions.
Unmanned aircraft called drones are unreliable in heavy turbulence, said David Lentink, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University. Birds, meanwhile, seem to sail through such conditions with ease.
"We thought, why not look at animals that have no problem doing this," Lentink told Live Science. "If we can figure out which principles they are using, we should be able to turn those principles into engineering design rules that we can apply in our robots. That's our goal." [Biomimicry: 7 Clever Technologies Inspired by Nature https://www.livescience.com/58473-bird-wind-tunnel-helps-design-drones.html
