Meeting Abstract
Birds fly effectively through complex environments, and in order to understand the strategies that enable them to outperform current drones, we need to determine the shape and movement of their wings. The dynamic morphing of the wing’s upper surface is of particular interest, because it determines the boundary layer’s sensitivity to flow separation during undisturbed flight. Previous studies focused on measuring general kinematics parameters such as wing stroke, but the actual shape and twist of the wing has not been fully resolved. We developed a high-speed camera and projector system to reconstruct the 3D surface of a bird wing at 3200 Hz. This is accomplished by projecting time-coded striped patterns onto the bird, which allows us to match corresponding stripe edges between the projected and recorded images. Using this system, we quantify how birds morph their wings while flying between perches using parameters such as surface area, wing orientation, and curvature which are difficult or impossible to measure with different approaches. Ultimately, the analysis of how birds change their wing shape will serve as inspiration for novel morphing wing designs.
