MIT Research Defines UAV's Theoretical Speed Limit
@farjand-6UEF79
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Oct 23, 2024
Oct 23, 2024
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Nobody teaches fish how to swim. But #-Link-Snipped-# have definitely analyzed the way in which the bird flies. Emilio Frazzoli, an associate professor of #-Link-Snipped-# feels that even if we are able to engineer machines which can fly at great speeds, there will always be a theoretical speed above which any flying object cannot go. This theoretical speed limit is more or less governed by the density of its environment.
#-Link-Snipped-#
Image Credit; The UAV
It is a well established fact that today's fighter aircrafts owe their existence to the deep study by scientists about avian world. For example the design of wings of air craft is inspired from hawks. This has helped them to reduce drag to an unprecedented level. Frazzoli, while continuing his research developed a mathematical model which represented various forest densities in which birds fly. The model by him and his team is called the Ergodic model which is believed to be near perfect representation of all the forests found on earth.
In this research, the MIT team has learned the way in which any moving object avoids obstacles in its way. While we can see up to a limited range, we travel towards that particular limit with certain speed. Once we have reached to that obstacle, we find a way to move past it. This is also true for a UAV. However, even if high technology sensors are employed in them, if they try to move beyond a certain speed limit, they are bound to crash with some object in their way.
Recently a study by Harvard scientists on pigeons was directed at #-Link-Snipped-#. This research was important for the development of new technologies which will guide an air craft through any obstacle filled environment. Both these studies have given an insight to scientists as to how birds fly. The MIT researchers are now collaborating with Harvard team to search out new possibilities in development of aeronautics. The paper regarding this research was accepted at IEEE Conference on Robotics and Automation.
#-Link-Snipped-#
Image Credit; The UAV
It is a well established fact that today's fighter aircrafts owe their existence to the deep study by scientists about avian world. For example the design of wings of air craft is inspired from hawks. This has helped them to reduce drag to an unprecedented level. Frazzoli, while continuing his research developed a mathematical model which represented various forest densities in which birds fly. The model by him and his team is called the Ergodic model which is believed to be near perfect representation of all the forests found on earth.
In this research, the MIT team has learned the way in which any moving object avoids obstacles in its way. While we can see up to a limited range, we travel towards that particular limit with certain speed. Once we have reached to that obstacle, we find a way to move past it. This is also true for a UAV. However, even if high technology sensors are employed in them, if they try to move beyond a certain speed limit, they are bound to crash with some object in their way.
Recently a study by Harvard scientists on pigeons was directed at #-Link-Snipped-#. This research was important for the development of new technologies which will guide an air craft through any obstacle filled environment. Both these studies have given an insight to scientists as to how birds fly. The MIT researchers are now collaborating with Harvard team to search out new possibilities in development of aeronautics. The paper regarding this research was accepted at IEEE Conference on Robotics and Automation.