Meeting Abstract

42.5  Tuesday, Jan. 5  How flying insects recover from in-flight “stumbles” RISTROPH, L.*; BERGOU, A. J.; GUCKENHEIMER, J.; WANG, Z. J.; COHEN, I.; Cornell University; Cornell University; Cornell University; Cornell University; Cornell University ic64@cornell.edu

Just as the Wright brothers implemented controls to achieve stable airplane flight, flying insects have evolved behavioral strategies that ensure recovery from flight disturbances. Here, we directly investigate control and stability through the application of torque impulses to free-flying fruit flies and measurement of their behavioral response. High-speed video and a new motion tracking method capture the aerial ‘stumble’, and we discover that flies respond to gentle disturbances by accurately returning to their original orientation. The insects take advantage of a stabilizing aerodynamic influence and active torque generation to recover their heading to within 2° in less than 60 milliseconds. To explain this recovery behavior, we form a feedback control model that includes the insect’s ability to sense body rotations, process this information, and actuate the wing motions that generate corrective aerodynamic torque. Thus, like early man-made aircraft and modern fighter jets, the fruit fly employs an automatic stabilization scheme that reacts to short time-scale disturbances.