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Home Research Inventions

Developing a flying, jellyfish-like machine

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
January 6, 2014
in Inventions, News, Physics

It’s been previously shown that the jellyfish are the world’s most efficient swimmers, and researchers wanted to see if they could implement some of its features into a flying machine.

New York University researchers have built a small vehicle whose flying motion resembles the movements of a jellyfish – possibly paving the way for small aerial robots which could be used for surveillance, traffic monitoring, or even search-and-rescue, while spending a minimum amount of energy.

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It’s not the first time scientists have tried to mimic what’s going on in nature and implement it in a flying machine – inspiration was drawn from fruit flies and moths, for example. However, the problem is that the flapping wing of a fly is inherently unstable, raising major structural issues. Now, Leif Ristroph of NYU believes he has found the solution.

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The prototype he’s created is limited: it can’t steer (pretty much like a jellyfish), and it’s relies on an external energy source – but the proof of principle has been made. What he developed is called an ornithopter (something which Dune fans might find familiar) – a flapping-wing aircraft. Ornithopters offer an alternative to helicopters in achieving maneuverability at small scales, although stabilizing such aerial vehicles remains a key challenge. The robot he developed achieves self-righting flight using flapping wings alone, without relying on additional aerodynamic surfaces and without feedback control. It measures only 8 cm, and its wings are arranged in a flower-like pattern.

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The main purpose of this type of research is to make these robots as small as possible, and as simple as possible – so they can sneak in through tight spaces, without being observed and/or without disturbing.

“And ours is one of the simplest, in that it just uses flapping wings.”, says Ristroph.

Scientific Reference:

  • Leif Ristroph, Stephen Childress, Hovering of a jellyfish-like flying machine, presented at the American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting, Pittsburgh, 2013

Tags: jellyfishornithopter
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

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