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Bird flight research centre aims to inform design of aircraft

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The flight of birds could inform the design of uncrewed aerial systems following the establishment of a new centre at the University of California, Davis.

Christina Harvey, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace enginering at UC Davis, with a Swainson's Hawk at the California Raptor Center. Harvey is establishing a new lab at the centre which will study bird flight with a goal of improving design of uncrewed aerial systems
Christina Harvey, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace enginering at UC Davis, with a Swainson's Hawk at the California Raptor Center. Harvey is establishing a new lab at the centre which will study bird flight with a goal of improving design of uncrewed aerial systems - UC Davis photo

Christina Harvey, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UC Davis, and Michelle Hawkins, a professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine and director of the California Raptor Center, are launching the bird flight research centre with a grant from the US Department of Defense.

The new centre will utilise motion capture and photogrammetry technologies to image birds in flight and create 3D models of wing shapes.

Harvey and Hawkins anticipate that by gleaning information about how different types of birds manoeuvre around complex environments, they can inform the development of next-generation drones and other uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to deliver packages, detect and fight wildfires, and more.

“Remember when Jeff Bezos was out there telling everybody that drones were going to put your Amazon package on your front step? Well, that manoeuvrability is still not available,” Hawkins said in a statement.

Motion capture technology uses multiple infrared cameras to track reflective markers on the moving subject. To track the bird’s movements, markers can be placed on the bird’s wings, body and tail, as well as on obstacles to assess how a bird manoeuvres around each obstacle.

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Bird flight