Flying snakes help scientists design new robots

years |
Updated: December 15, 2022 12:50 is

Washington [US]15 (ANI): Robots are designed to move by imitating the movements of animals, such as walking and swimming. Scientists are now considering how to design a robot that mimics the gliding motion displayed by flying snakes.
In Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing, researchers at the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech explore the lift generation mechanisms of flying adders, which sway from side to side as they move from treetops to the ground for evade predators or move. around quickly and efficiently. The ripples allow the serpent to glide long distances, up to 80 feet from a 50-foot tower.
To understand how ripples provide lift, the researchers developed a computational model derived from data obtained from high-speed flying snake videos. A key component of this model is the segmented shape of the snake’s body, which resembles a CD or flying saucer.

The shape of the cross section is very important in understanding how a snake can slip so far. In a frisbee, the spinning disc causes air pressure to build up under the disc and the top is sucked in, lifting the disc into the air. To help create an even pressure difference across the body, the snake swings from side to side, creating a low pressure area on the back and a high pressure area under the belly. This lifts the snake and allows it to glide through the air.
“Horizontal serpent duductions create a number of important vortex structures, including main eddies, low-ground discharges, and trailing edge eddies, TEVs,” said co-author Haibo Dong of the University of Virginia. “The establishment and development of local exhaust ventilation on the dorsal or posterior surface of the snake’s body plays an important role in lift production.”
LEV forms near the head and moves backward along the body. Investigators have found that LEVs survive longest in the body cavities of a snake before being discharged. These curves are formed during waves and are critical to understanding the uplift mechanism.
The team looked at several characteristics, such as the angle of attack the snake makes with the oncoming airflow and the frequency of the ripples, to determine which were important in producing the slip. In their natural environment, flying snakes usually ripple at a rate of one to two times per second. Surprisingly, the researchers found that the rapid undulations reduce aerodynamic performance.
“The general trend that we are seeing is that increasing frequency causes instability in the vortex structure, which causes some of the vortex tubes to spin. Vortex tubes tend to detach from the surface, which causes a decrease in lift,” said Dong. . Favorite