TU Delft's SquirrelDrone Morphs Its Whole Body To Fly, Ditching The Bird Playbook Everyone Else Copies

TU Delft's SquirrelDrone Morphs Its Whole Body To Fly, Ditching The Bird Playbook Everyone Else Copies

A research team at Delft University of Technology has built a drone that changes the shape of its entire body in flight the way a flying squirrel does, and the data says the trick works. The aircraft, called the SquirrelDrone, stretches its limbs, bends its spine, flicks its tail, and lets a soft skin-like membrane deform in the airflow, all to steer instead of relying on rigid wings and separate control surfaces. In wind-tunnel runs and outdoor…