Related papers: A minimal wake-vortex model explains formation fli…
An Ising-type Vicsek model is proposed for collective motion and sudden direction change in a population of self-propelled particles. Particles move on a linear lattice with velocity +1 or -1 in the one-dimensional model. The probability of…
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…
Speed fluctuations of individual birds in natural flocks are moderate, due to the aerodynamic and biomechanical constraints of flight. Yet the spatial correlations of such fluctuations are scale-free, namely they have a range as wide as the…
Swarming is a conspicuous behavioural trait observed in bird flocks, fish shoals, insect swarms and mammal herds. It is thought to improve collective awareness and offer protection from predators. Many current models involve the hypothesis…
This expository review is devoted to fish swimming and bird/insect flight. (i) The simple waving motion of an elongated flexible ribbon plate of constant width, immersed in a fluid at rest, propagating a wave distally down the plate to swim…
We show how phasing between tandem bioinspired fins flapping at high-stroke amplitudes modulates rear fin thrust production and wake characteristics. Load cell thrust measurements show that the rear fin generates 25% more thrust than the…
This research investigates the three-dimensional effects of flow around a pair of flapping wings undergoing clap-and-fling interactions through harmonic in-plane motions combining pitching, heaving, and deviation. Both wings mirror each…
We study the role of unsteady lift in the context of flapping wings in birds' flight. Both aerodynamicists and biologists attempt to address this subject, yet it seems that the contribution of the unsteady lift still holds many open…
This article presents a new control approach and a dynamic model for engineered flapping flight with many interacting degrees of freedom. This paper explores the applications of neurobiologically inspired control systems in the form of…
Fish schools and bird flocks exhibit complex collective dynamics whose self-organization principles are largely unknown. The influence of hydrodynamics on such collectives has been relatively unexplored theoretically, in part due to the…
The leading edge vortex (LEV) is one of the most important lift augmentation mechanisms in flapping wing aerodynamics. We propose a methodology that aims to provide a quantitative description of the LEV. The first step of the method…
Flying quadrotors in tight formations is a challenging problem. It is known that in the near-field airflow of a quadrotor, the aerodynamic effects induced by the propellers are complex and difficult to characterize. Although machine…
One of the most impressive features of moving animal groups is their ability to perform sudden coherent changes in travel direction. While this collective decision can be a response to an external perturbation, such as the presence of a…
Spatial single-loop mechanisms such as Bennett linkages offer a unique combination of one-degree-of-freedom actuation and nontrivial spatial trajectories, making them attractive for lightweight bio-inspired robotic design. However, although…
A flexible foil undergoing pitching oscillations is studied experimentally in a wind tunnel with different imposed free stream velocities. The chord-based Reynolds number is in the range 1600--4000, such that the dynamics of the system is…
In this work, wake-tail plane interactions are investigated for a tandem wing configuration in buffet conditions using hybrid RANS/LES simulations with the Automated Zonal Detached Eddy Simulation (AZDES) method. The analyzed configuration…
Wakes of upswept afterbodies are often characterized by a counter-rotating streamwise vortex pair. The unsteady dynamics of these vortices are examined with a spatio-temporally resolved Large-Eddy Simulation dataset on a representative…
Improving the power output from wind farms is vital in transitioning to renewable electricity generation. However, in wind farms, wind turbines often operate in the wake of other turbines, leading to a reduction in the wind speed and the…
Coordinated collective motion in bird flocks and fish schools inspires algorithms for cohesive swarm robotics. This paper presents a position-based flocking model that achieves persistent velocity alignment without velocity sensing. By…
We present the first decentralized multi-copter flock that performs stable autonomous outdoor flight with up to 10 flying agents. By decentralized and autonomous we mean that all members navigate themselves based on the dynamic information…