Scientists have introduced a flying robot-snake

Engineers were inspired by flying kites that can travel up to 24 m in the air, controlling the direction

its movement by special vibrations.According to a new paper in the journal Nature Physics, this is more of a strategy to stabilize their flight rather than an evolutionary remnant of snakes' general behavior. This work could ultimately lead to a new, improved control pattern for dynamic flying robots.

To study their device, laboratoryUniversity of Washington watched guinea pigs jumping from artificial branches attached to a tall stand. Engineers recorded movement as they glided through the air with four cameras. This allowed them to create 3D models of the position of the body in the middle of the flight and analyze the forces acting on the body and the basic dynamics of sliding.

The next step of the engineers was to createa three-dimensional model of a flying snake in the mode of flattened sliding and the study of the laws of fluid flow by immersing the model in a tank with running water. Researchers were also able to model patterns of airflow patterns. They found that movement during flight plays an important role - the snake “expands” its body to make itself more aerodynamic.

Based on these data, the team developed an “anatomically accurate” model of snake flight - a real robot can also be developed from it. They plan to introduce the first device by 2022.

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