Although wing-flapping micro-drones do already exist, the things tend to be quite fragile – and thus not ideally suited to real-world use. An experimental new one, however, utilizes a softer mechanism ...

Birds fly more efficiently by folding their wings during the upstroke, according to a recent study. The results could mean that wing-folding is the next step in increasing the propulsive and ...

Four flapping-wing drones developed by a research team at the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), which feature eagle, pigeon, butterfly and beetle imitations, have recently gained ...

The U.S. military has turned to biology for inspiration in the manufacturing of smaller and quieter unmanned aircraft machines through the study of such creatures as bats, insects and owls, but the ...

Insects are thought to use specific chest muscles to actively open and close their wings. However, high-speed imaging reveals that rhinoceros beetles flap their hindwings to deploy them for flight, ...

Bio-inspired wind sensing using strain sensors on flexible wings could revolutionize robotic flight control strategy. Researchers have developed a method to detect wind direction with 99% accuracy ...

Since the dawn of aviation, birds have been an inspiration for visionaries of flight. And now, engineers are once again looking to feathered friends to inspire the next generation of aircraft wings.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a micro-flapping-wing robot that exhibits flight characteristics and speeds similar to those of a bee. An AI-based, ...