The Bio-Inspired Flight Lab led by Dr Shane Windsor investigates aerodynamic, sensing and control aspects of animal flight and how we can use bio-inspiration to improve engineered technologies, particularly in the area of small scale unmanned air vehicles (UAVs).

in the lab covers a wide range of areas including:

• Bird flight aerodynamics, stability and control
• Bird inspired guidance
• Bio-inspired UAV flight control
• Morphing wing aerodynamics and control

Our research is inherently multidisciplinary, using techniques from both aerospace engineering and biology to study animal flight and to develop new technologies based on understanding the principles involved with biological systems. We use a range of different experimental, analytical and numerical approaches including:

• Video analysis of animal behaviour
• GPS tracking
• Experimental wind measurement
• Wind tunnel measurements
• Computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
• Numerical control system modelling