A researcher at the New York University (NYU) has developed a prototype for an aircraft which closely resembles a jellyfish.
Leif Ristroph, a post-doctoral researcher at NYU has created the jellyfish flier. The unique design of the aircraft prevents it from tipping over and maintains its upright position during different maneuvers. Be believes that the design of the jellyfish flier is ideal for maneuvering aircrafts over small, confined spaces.
"What's cool is you can actually build these flying things yourself," Ristrophstated to LiveScience. "All the components I used to make this, they cost about $15 and they're available on hobby airplane websites."
Ristroph started working on his jellyfish flier when he thought of inventing a flying machine which can maintain its stability without adding artificial nervous system or sensors. He came up with at most 10 designs, including a design which closely resembled an umbrella. He theorized that opening and closing an umbrella in a rapid, continuous motion could start a flying motion.
Ristroph ended up with a cone-like flying machine equipped with four wings which measure approximately 3 inches long. The wings are surrounding the motor and they flap up and down in a not so simultaneous manner. He described the motion very similar to how a jellyfish travel through the water.
"It has a bell that contracts and squirts water downwards," Ristroph said to LiveScience.com. The jellyfish flier does the same with air.
The best thing about this new flying robot is that it is very stable, if it starts tipping, the flapping motion of the wings corrects the course immediately. The flapping motion also keeps the machine upright when it hovers, ascends, or makes a horizontal movement.
However, the prototype does not include a battery yet and the flying machine needs power supply. Ristroph plans to do more engineering work on the machine to equip it with a power supply and an onboard radio receiver.
This design was further described on the Jan. 14 issue of Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
