Session GT: Biolocomotion V: Flapping and Flying I
8:00 AM–10:10 AM, Monday, November 22, 2010
Long Beach Convention Center Room: Grand Ballroom B
Chair: Alexandra Techet, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract ID: BAPS.2010.DFD.GT.3
Abstract: GT.00003 : Falling with Style - Bat flight maneuvers
8:26 AM–8:39 AM
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Abstract 
Authors:
Attila Bergou
(Brown University)
Daniel Riskin
(City College New York)
Gabriel Taubin
(Brown University)
Sharon Swartz
(Brown University)
Kenneth S. Breuer
(Brown University)
The remarkable maneuverability of flying animals results from precise movements of their highly specialized wings. Among these flyers, bats have evolved a particularly impressive capacity to control their flight. This adeptness is, in part, determined by bats' ability to modulate their wing shape through many independently controlled joints. However, the many-jointed wings of bats have higher inertia relative to their bodies compared with all other extant flyers. To understand the role that wing inertia plays in bat flight, we use a novel tracking algorithm to measure the kinematics of bats performing aerial flips. Using a dynamical model of a flying bat, we show how bats modulate their wings' inertia, usually a detriment to maneuvering, to supplement aerodynamic forces in performing flight maneuvers.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2010.DFD.GT.3