ROURKELA: With two alumni of NIT-Rourkela securing a patent for their invention- an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) which mimics the complex flapping motion of a bird, the Uri-like drone innovation could find a place in the armed forces’ armoury.
The inventors- Debendra Pradhan and Biswajit Swain, both aged 27, claim their advanced Ornithopter design and technique promise wide applications in defence espionage and surveillance apart from civil applications in aerial surveillance, farm and airfield protection from bird intrusion, data collection and forecasting.
The duo, on behalf of the NIT-R, had filed the patent application way back in October 2016 when they were studying at the institute and the Central government’s Patent Office on May 13, 2022, granted the patent for 20 years.
Pradhan said flapping wing Ornithopter or UAV is an emerging area of robotic application. Its agility, body structure, lightweight, optimized energy consumption and acrobatic features aspire to tackle the functionality problems and design of the existing fixed and rotary type UAV. Due to its bird-like appearance and behaviour, it can be deployed for military espionage without easily attracting the attention of enemy forces. Swain observed Ornithopter has been gaining popularity over the years as the present UAVs are plagued with problems of less flight time, Biomimic incapability and longer time for altitude attainment.
He said the prototype is different and more capable than existing drones with faster flight take-off due to its novel mechanism, ability to replicate the motions/movements of a real flying bird with synchronised head, tail motion and wing flapping, power optimisation with maximum strength to weight ratio and optimised aerofoils. Their research paper on Ornithopter was recently published in the prestigious Journal of Multi-Body Dynamics of the Institutions of Mechanical Engineers.
Flapping Wing Ornithopter
Only ‘foldable winged Ornithopter’
Wing consists of fore and aft section
Coordinated movements for lift and flight stability
Motion to wings provided by a special type of four bar linkage
Each powered by a single DC motor, balanced gear box.
Topologically optimized aerofoil cross section of wing