The animal world continues to inspire aircraft designers. A couple of years ago we published a story about how the fins of humpback whales are helping scientists develop new main rotor blade designs. Now a story is emerging about how a team of scientists from New York University used the motion of swimming jellyfish to design a new aircraft.
The study was published in the UK-based Journal of the Royal Society Interface. In the abstract, the aircraft is described as an ornithopter — a flapping wing aircraft. Unlike previous flapping-wing aircraft, which have mimicked the flight of insects, this aircraft is composed of four flapping wing surfaces that open and close in a motion similar to that of a jellyfish.
