In The News
Posted by Nicole Sharp on 28 August 2005 at 17:26I opened up Thunderbird this morning and checked my BBC news feed only to find a headline that caught my eye: Spy Craft Take Gull Flight Lesson.
Okay, so the headline didn't grab my attention, but the first lines did:
Aviation researchers at the University of Florida have copied the wing action of seagulls to develop spy drones that can morph shape mid-flight. [...] By watching how seagulls alter their wing shape, and using morphing techniques, the agile craft can squeeze through confined spaces, such as alleyways, and change direction rapidly.
This is the same group who works with some of the guys in the biorobotics lab on the Micro Air and Land Vehicles (MALVs) that I worked with last spring. Sadly, the article never mentions Case or the work we're doing. The focus of the article is on the purely aerial MAVs. Case has added Whegs™ that allow the craft to move on the ground as well as in the air. There is also work on a version that can move its wings to ease obstacle transition, very much the way the gull-inspired MAV in the article does.
This has been my "Hey, that's cool!" moment of the day.