They research wildlife by turning stuffed birds into drones to study their flight.
Dr. Mostafa Hassanalian, professor of mechanical engineering at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, is leading the project. He found that artificial, mechanical birds did not produce the results he was looking for.
“We came up with the idea that we could use… dead birds and make drones out of them,” he said.
“It’s all there…we reverse engineer it.”
Drones made from taxidermies birds are currently being tested in a purpose-built cage at the university. They can better understand flock formation and flight patterns. This can apply to the aviation industry, Hassanalian said.
“If we learn how these birds manage each other’s energy, we can apply it in the future in the aviation industry to save more energy and fuel,” he said.
Scientist Brenden Herkenhoff focuses his research on color and flight efficiency. While many think that a bird’s color is a way of attracting mates or camouflage, Herkenhoff studies how color affects flight efficiency.
“We have conducted experiments and found that for our fixed-wing aircraft, applying a certain color can change the flight performance. We believe the same is true for birds,” he said. The stuffed bird prototypes fly for a maximum of 20 minutes. “We make them fly longer. They also conduct tests in the wild among live birds,” Hassanalian said.
