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The application of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is surging across several industries, paralleled by growing demand for these UAVs. However, the noise emitted by UAVs remains a significant impediment to their widespread use even though in…
Dragonfly beats its wings independently, resulting in its superior maneuverability. Depending on the magnitude of phase difference between the fore- and hind-wings of dragonfly, the vortical structures and their interaction with wings…
Avian-informed drones feature morphing wing and tail surfaces, enhancing agility and adaptability in flight. Despite their large potential, realising their full capabilities remains challenging due to the lack of generalized control…
The passive flight of a thin wing or plate is an archetypal problem in flow-structure interactions at intermediate Reynolds numbers. This seemingly simple aerodynamic system displays an impressive variety of steady and unsteady motions that…
The aerial flocking of birds, or murmurations, has fascinated observers while presenting many challenges to behavioral study and simulation. We examine how the periphery of murmurations remain well bounded and cohesive. We also investigate…
In this letter, we report the first experimental demonstration of the recently emerged new paradigm in hovering and flapping flight physics called (Natural Hovering Extremum Seeking (NH-ES)) [doi.org/10.1103/4dm4-kc4g], which theorized that…
Motivated by the problem of jet-flap interaction noise, we study the tonal dynamics that occur when a sharp edge is placed in the hydrodynamic nearfield of an isothermal turbulent jet. We perform hydrodynamic and acoustic pressure…
The design of a prototype to carry out take-off and flight tests with tethered aircrafts is presented. The system features a ground station equipped with a winch and a linear motion system. The motion of these two components is regulated by…
We study coherent structures in subsonic turbulent jets subject to a flight stream. A thorough characterisation of the effects of a flight stream on the turbulent field was recently performed by Maia et al. (2023) and fluctuation energy…
Many nonlinear systems are described by eigenmodes with amplitude-dependent frequencies, interacting strongly whenever the frequencies become commensurate at internal resonances. Fast energy exchange via the resonances holds the key to rich…
Airborne insects generate a leading edge vortex when they flap their wings. This coherent vortex is a low pressure region that enhances the lift of flapping wings compared to fixed wings. Insect wings are thin membranes strengthened by a…
Biological springs can be used in nature for energy conservation and ultra-fast motion. The loading and unloading rates of elastic materials can play an important role in determining how the properties of these springs affect movements. We…
Insects and birds are often faced by opposing requirements for agile and stable flight. Here, we explore the interplay between aerodynamic effort, maneuverability, and stability in a model system that consists of a $\Lambda$-shaped flyer…
A control design approach to achieve fully autonomous take-off and flight maneuvers with a tethered aircraft is presented and demonstrated in real-world flight tests with a small-scale prototype. A ground station equipped with a controlled…
Through experiments, we idealise a plant leaf as a flexible, thin, rectangular plate clamped at the midpoint and positioned perpendicular to an airflow. Flexibility of the structure is considered as an advantage at moderate flow speed…
Insects excel in trajectory and attitude handling during flight, yet the specific kinematic behaviours they use for maintaining stability in air disturbances are not fully understood. This study investigates the adaptive strategies of…
Flying animals, such as bats, fly through their fluidic environment as they create air jets and form wake structures downstream of their flight path. Bats, in particular, dynamically morph their highly flexible and dexterous armwing to…
Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES) have emerged as a promising renewable energy technology that exploits stronger, more consistent high-altitude winds via tethered airborne devices. Among the various concepts, crosswind systems, where…
This paper addresses the boundary stabilization of a flexible wing model, both in bending and twisting displacements, under unsteady aerodynamic loads, and in presence of a store. The wing dynamics is captured by a distributed parameter…
Flying insects can perform rapid, sophisticated maneuvers like backflips, sharp banked turns, and in-flight collision recovery. To emulate these in aerial robots weighing less than a gram, known as flying insect robots (FIRs), a fast and…