Morphing wing technologies for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) inspired by the wing morphing used by birds of prey to achieve stable flight in turbule

鸟类在飞行中具有非凡的敏捷性和鲁棒性，能够科普湍流甚至狂风条件，并且仍然执行非凡的空中机动。在过去的十年中，无人机（UAV）的应用越来越多，突出了提高其飞行耐力的重要性。它们的刚性机翼，加上它们的小尺寸和基本的控制系统，使它们容易受到阵风和湍流环境的影响。鸟类在飞行中固有的机动性是由一个复杂的感觉运动回路提供的，同时也是通过改变翅膀的形状来改变后掠角、翼展和面积的能力，以响应流场中的扰动。近年来，越来越多的研究集中在鸟类飞行的研究上，目的是提高小型无人机的性能。这项研究将分析在RMIT大学（墨尔本）收集的红隼在风洞中的飞行动力学数据，然后设计和建造一个以鸟类为灵感的机器人机翼。机翼随后将在布里斯托大学的风洞中进行测试，目的是减少湍流和阵风干扰。完成该项目的拟议时间轴为3.5年，其中第二年将在澳大利亚RMIT大学进行。

Birds have a remarkable agility and robustness in flight, able to cope with turbulent flows or even blustery conditions and still perform extraordinary aerial manoeuvres. The increasing number of applications arising for Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) during the past decade has highlighted the importance of improvements to their endurance in flight. Their rigid wings, together with their small size and elementary control systems, make them vulnerable against gusty and turbulent environments. Birds' inherent manoeuvrability in flight is fed by a complex sensorimotor loop, together with the ability to morph their wings to change sweep, span and area, to respond to a disturbance in the flowfield. In recent years, an increasing amount of research has been focussed on the study of avian flight, with the goal of improving the performance of small UAVs. This research will analyse the flight dynamics data collected at RMIT University (Melbourne) of a kestrel in a wind tunnel, to then design and build an avian-inspired robotic wing. The wing will then be tested in wind tunnels at the University of Bristol, with the aim of reducing turbulence and gust disturbances. The proposed timeline for the completion of this project will be 3.5 years, where the second year will take place at RMIT University in Australia.