Drone Swoops Like A Bird for Better Landing & Aid Delivery
Current UAVs with fixed wings are not very flexible in how they can fly and tend to require a long runway for landing. Researchers from the UK's University of Bristol and BMT Defence Services were inspired by the landing techniques of many birds - swooping in at a low altitude and then angling their wings upwards to act as brakes - and say they have created the first UAV to perform a 'perched landing' by using machine learning algorithms. An aircraft that can land in confined spaces could significantly impact intelligence-gathering and aid delivery in a humanitarian disaster.