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Aerodynamics

Flight of the robofly

Nature volume 412, pages 688–689 (2001)Cite this article

Qualitative studies of airflow over insect wings have long been possible, thanks to the use of smoke trails. With a new robotic fly, flow and force can be analysed quantitatively, so theories of insect flight can be tested.

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Figure 1: Robofly.

J. M. BIRCH & M. H. DICKINSON

Figure 2: Patterns of airflow during the downstroke of a hovering insect, as revealed by Birch and Dickinson's quantitative analysis1 of fluid flow over the wing of robofly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    George V. Lauder

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  1. George V. Lauder
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Correspondence to George V. Lauder.

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Lauder, G. Flight of the robofly. Nature 412, 688–689 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35089159

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