Creating drones inspired by locusts

A joint US-Chinese research team has managed to create a new type of drone, small piloted aircraft, similar to locusts, that glide smoothly for a long distance while they are in flight.

According to Tech Xplore, only researchers from Lincoln University in the United States, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Guangzhou University in China have developed a method for manufacturing drone wings that have the characteristics and capabilities of locust wings.

The site added that the researchers’ idea started from the principle that unmanned aircraft or aircraft with a pilot, may be better when gliding smoothly in the air with some locust features, a feature that aircraft makers aspire to, because it can lead to reduced fuel consumption as well as reduced noise.

The researchers closely studied the features of locusts’ wings, which allow them to glide well over long distances, to learn more about the properties that might make human-made flying machines better at gliding.

The research team noted that the locust wings are made of a very thin and lightweight material with specific vein patterns that carry “lymph fluid”, and they created an early version of it in 3D images.

The researchers used the images to create models that can be used to create aircraft wings, using the thermoforming process, trimming and etching the wings using a laser, to reproduce the patterns on the locust wings, then the research team designed several prototypes with different weights and thicknesses, to see which of them contains the right amount of hardness;

The researchers’ tests showed that the results of the study are applicable to the production of usable wings for both unmanned aircraft and small piloted aircraft.

And researchers still have many investigations to make sure of the benefit of designing the wings of planes that mimic locusts, before they can be made commercially.