Flight path maintained: fruit fly

1 of 1 Fruit fly / Pierre Kess.. / License

Fruit flies recover their flight path after wind gusts and other disturbances with an automatic stabilizer reflex.

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Aircraft design

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[Collapse all sections] Summary

"Observing the aerial maneuvers of fruit flies, Cornell University researchers have uncovered how the insects -- when disturbed by sharp gusts of wind -- right themselves and stay on course. Fruit flies use an automatic stabilizer reflex that helps them recover with precision from midflight stumbles…" (Science Daily 2010)

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About the inspiring organism

Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, 1830
[Fruit fly]

Some organism data provided by: BDWD: BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Organism/taxonomy data provided by:
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist

Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Aircraft design

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Engineering

Experts

Itai Cohen Group
Dr. Itai Cohen
Cornell University

References

2010. Staying the course: fruit flies employ stabilizer reflex to recover from midflight stumbles. Science Daily [Internet],

Ristroph L; Bergou AJ; Ristroph G; Coumes K; Berman GJ; Guckenheimer J; Wang ZJ; Cohen I. 2010. Discovering the flight autostabilizer of fruit flies by inducing aerial stumbles. PNAS. 107(11): 4820-4824.

Flight path maintained: fruit fly

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