Birds of prey inspire new type of drone

Birds of prey are inspiring a new type of drone being developed by the University of Surrey

Birds of prey are inspiring a new type of drone being developed as part of a research project by the University of Surrey.

Dr Olaf Marxen, from the institutions mechanical engineering sciences, is among those creating an unmanned aerial vehicle designed to perch and manoeuvre through tight spaces.

Engineers are drawing on studies of owls and raptors to complete the Learning2Fly project, which aims to transform how drones operate in urban environments, the university said.

Dr Marxen said the team were using the capabilities of birds to make drones "more agile and better suited to cities with tall buildings or rapidly changing wind conditions".

Instead of relying on complex computer simulations, researchers are testing the manoeuvres in real-world experiments using the university's motion capture lab.

The data collected is being fed into a machine learning model which will aim to help the team predict drone behaviour.

Owen Wastell, PhD student and project co-lead, said the early findings already presented were "exciting".

"It's humbling that in an era of advanced machines and technology, we're still looking to the natural world – and one of the oldest living species on the planet – for inspiration," he added.

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