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Institute for Figuring |
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"Robofly"
- a robotic mechanism whose wings can be changed to simulate the flight of a fruit fly, a hummingbird, or a honeybee. |
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In a two-ton vat of mineral oil a set of robotic wings
beat silently. Nearby, in a circular corral of computer controlled LED’s,
a fly tethered by a tungsten wire beats its own organic wings hundreds
of times a second. As the animal flaps, laser-based sensors measure
the force and torque of its miniature movements while a “wing
beat analyzer” tracks the shadows of its gossamer foils. Elsewhere
in the lab of Dr Michael Dickinson, researchers use stereoscopic video
to reconstruct the insects’ flight path and to simulate a “fly’s
eye view” of the world. Where the French oceanographer Jean Painleve
took us inside the world of the octopus and seahorse, so Dickinson takes
us into the realm of the fruit fly. |
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A
fruit fly tethered by a tungsten wire enables scientists to study the
force and torque on its miniature wings. Photos courtesy of Dr. Michael Dickinson, California Institute of Technology. |
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360 million years before the Wright brothers pitched a glider
into the wind, the descendents of shrimp-like crustaceans learned the
art of hovering - a skill that humans have yet to finesse. Just as crustaceans
swim by furiously beating their legs, so insects fly by furiously beating
their wings, a hyperactive expenditure of energy that is at once efficient
and amazingly effective. Insects’ aerobatic maneuverings are the
envy of engineers and now the subject of intensive scientific research.
In this talk Dr Michael Dickinson will discuss the aerodynamics, physiology,
and perceptual systems involved in a flies’ flight. The event
will include unique high-speed films and animations of how a fly experiences
the world. |
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a computer simulation a virtual fly helps scientists decipher the complex
aerodynamics of insect flight. Unlike airplanes, which always aim for
stability, insects wings operate at the edge of instability and they
are constantly on the verge of stalling. |
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Dr
Michael Dickinson’s laboratory at Caltech is devoted to understanding
“the motion of a fly through the air.” Trained as a classical
zoologist, Dickinson has also studied the physiology of hummingbird
flight and is researching the control mechanisms underlying a wide class
of insect gaits. He is the architect of the Grand Unified Fly project
that aims “to encode in silicon as much of a fly as we can."
THE INSECT TRILOGY #1 How Flies Fly – Dr. Michael Dickinson (Thurs, May 4) #2 The Ecology of a Termite's Gut – Dr. Jared Leadbetter (Thurs, June 1) #3 What is it Like to be a Spider – Dr. Simon Pollard (Wed, June 28) The Institute For Figuring is a nonprofit organization devoted to enhancing the public understanding of figures and figuring techniques. |
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