{"id":686390,"date":"2025-08-21T19:40:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T16:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bird-inspired-drones-could-be-key-to-navigating-through-dense-cities-and-offshore-wind-farms\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T19:40:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T16:40:18","slug":"bird-inspired-drones-could-be-key-to-navigating-through-dense-cities-and-offshore-wind-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bird-inspired-drones-could-be-key-to-navigating-through-dense-cities-and-offshore-wind-farms\/","title":{"rendered":"Bird-inspired drones could be key to navigating through dense cities and offshore wind farms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n A bird-inspired glider wing at the University of Surrey. Credit: University of Surrey
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A new type of drone, inspired by the aerial precision of birds of prey, could one day navigate through dense city skyscrapers to deliver our packages or inspect hard-to-reach offshore wind farms, thanks to pioneering research from the University of Surrey.<\/p>\n

Engineers are developing fixed-wing, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of performing agile maneuvers, such as perching or obstacle avoidance, by studying the flight behavior of owls and other precision flyers. The project, called “Learning2Fly,” aims to overcome key limitations of conventional drones, particularly in environments where space is tight and wind conditions are unpredictable.<\/p>\n

Unlike standard rotary-wing drones, which are highly maneuverable but energy-intensive, fixed-wing drones are far more energy-efficient and capable of covering longer distances, making them ideal for app<\/a>lications such as wind turbine inspections at sea. While they have typically lacked the agility needed to fly safely and precisely through turbulent or cluttered airspace, the Surrey team’s project could allow this new class of UAVs to operate with far greater control and adaptability by harnessing wing aerodynamics.<\/p>\n

Dr. Olaf Marxen, Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey’s School of Engineering, said, “Nature has already solved many of the challenges we face in drone flight. Birds of prey can perform incredibly precise maneuvers in complex environments, and we’re using those lessons to make fixed-wing drones smarter, more agile and better suited to cities with tall buildings or rapidly changing wind conditions.<\/p>\n

“We’re combining experimental flight data with machine learning to help drones predict and control their motion in real time to imitate a bird’s typical flight path. Traditional simulations such as computational fluid dynamics fall short in turbulent environments and are prohibitively expensive, so our next step is refining the predictive model and testing outdoors, bringing us closer to deployment.”<\/p>\n

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Instead of relying on complex computer simulations, researchers are testing the maneuvers in real-world experiments using Surrey’s motion capture lab. A number of lightweight prototypes have already been built and tested, some of which were adapted from commercial toy planes, to track their motion in 3D using onboard sensors and high-speed cameras. The data collected is being fed into a machine learning model, helping the team predict drone behavior without relying on conventional aerodynamic simulations.<\/p>\n

University of Surrey Ph.D. student, Owen Wastell, who is co-leading the project alongside Dr. Marxen, said, “We’ve already presented some of our early findings, and it’s exciting to see how well the drone performs even at this stage. It’s humbling that in an era of advanced machines and technology<\/a>, we’re still looking to the natural world\u2014and one of the oldest living species on the planet\u2014for inspiration.”<\/p>\n

With further testing planned for outdoor environments, researchers hope the project will lay the groundwork for a new generation of agile, energy-efficient drones guided by nature.<\/p>\n

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\n University of Surrey
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\n Citation<\/strong>:
\n Bird-inspired drones could be key to navigating through dense cities and offshore wind farms (2025, August 21)
\n retrieved 21 August 2025
\n from https:\/\/techxplore.com\/news<\/a>\/2025-08-bird-drones-key-dense-cities.html\n <\/p>\n

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