Team UV

Redefining the classical concept of an underwater vehicle.

  • Home
  • About
  • Member Bios
  • Contact/FAQ
  • Sponsors & Donations

The All Mighty Hummingbird!

Posted by Abraham (Team UV) on May 21, 2015
Posted in: Presentations. Tagged: Aerodynamics, Biomimicry, Birds, Engineering, Flight, Flow, Fluid Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering, Presentation, Research, Robots.

Of all the bird species of the world, the hummingbird has some of the most unique and impressive abilities.  It has the highest metabolism of any warm blooded mammal on the planet, it is extremely light, and it flaps its wings so fast that the frequency can even be picked up by the human ear.  Some of the fastest flapping hummingbirds can generate up to 200 flaps per second!  And not only this but they are able to hover in place, fly backwards, and even shake off water from their bodies all in midflight!  Many scientists have researched the hummingbird and have learned that it does not flap its wings in the traditional up and down movement but instead in a back and forth movement creating lift in both the up and down stroke.  About 70% of the total lift is created in the down stroke and 30% in the up stroke in one cycle of flapping.  Even in wind tunnels these feathered fiends are able to withstand winds of 20 mph by using their natural aerodynamic, streamlined body and tail as a rudder to maneuver through the passing air.  Obviously here at Team UV we are interested in harnessing the power of nature through biomimicry and scientist and engineers are doing the same with the hummingbird.  Tiny helicopters attempt to recreate the hummingbird hover but currently are not as good as the real deal. More on the mini-helicopter-drones http://www.futurity.org/hummingbirds-micro-helicopters-740052/.

Leading Edge Vortex (LEV) and Trailing Edge Vortex (TEV) shedding in hummingbird flight. Photo Credit:Nick Stockton (Wired.com)

Share:

  • Tweet
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posts navigation

← Medical Device That Can Deliver Medicine One Molecule at a Time
Keeping Humans Alive Underwater →
  • Project SymposiumMay 29, 2015
    The big day is here.
  • Fundraising!

    GoFundMe.com/TeamUV
  • Social Media

    • Team UV Facebook
    • Team UV Instagram
    • Team UV Twitter
  • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

  • Tags

    3D Printing 3rd World 4D Printing 9/11 Acoustics Aerodynamics Aerospace Aerospace Engineering Air Force Airplanes Always Remember America Animals Apparel Arduino Armed Forces Army Art Automotive Ballet Battery Beach Beer Biochemistry Biology Biomedical Engineering Biomimetics Biomimicry Blog Brave Bugs Cancer Cancer Cure Car Cars CFD Challenge Chemical Engineering Chemistry Christmas Christmas Tree Christmas Tree Hairspray Climate Clothing Coast Guard Coatings Color Community Company Competition Computer Computer Programming Conference Control Systems Cosmetics Courage Crazy Creativity Creature Cure Current Cycle Damage Dance Defense Desert Design Diagnosis Disaster Dive Diving DIY Donations Door Locks Drone Drones Dynamics EAF Earthquake Education Electrical Engineering Electrochemistry Electromechanical Engineering Electronics Energy Engineering Engineering A Future Engineering Feats Entertainment Environment Everyday Exploration Explore Explosions Facility Farm Fire Fireworks Fish Fishing Flight Flood Flow Fluid Mechanics Flying Food Fossil Fuels Freedom Fun Fundraising Gears Go Fund Me GoFundMe Hairspray Health Heat Transfer History Holidays Home Hope Hubble Space Telescope Impact Innovate Innovation Insects ISR Jumping LED Light List Locks Machine Design Maintenance Makeup Manufacturing Marine Marine Corps Materials Engineering Materials Science Math Mathematics Mechanical Engineering Mechanics of Materials Mechanism Media Medical Military Mindset Momentum Movies Museum Music Nature Naval Naval Engineering Navy Never forget Nuclear Ocean Office Office Wars One Open Mind Optics Outreach Owl Patriot Patriot Day Photos Polymer Polymers Poverty Power Power Generation Power Plant Presentation Printing Problem Solving Programming Propellers Rail Gun Research Resilient Ride Robotics Robots Rocket Science Roller Coasters Running SCCUR School Science Senior Project September 11th Service Members Shark Ships Simple Simple but Complex Design Small Business Smart Phone Snakes Solar Energy SONAR Space Space Telescope Special Effects Spirirts Sponge Filled Syringe Sponsor Sports Stability Stealth STEM Stress Analysis Strong Submarine Suit Support Our Troops Sustainability Swimming Syringe Team Team UV Technology Textiles Thank You Thermodynamics Top 10 Engineering Feats 2014 Travel Troubleshooting Electronics Turbulence UAV Underwater Coating UUV Venom Veterans Veterans Day Vibration Wakeboard Wakeboarding Water Water Purification Water Sports Waves Welcome Well Read Wind Wind Turbine Wine
  • Archives

    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
  • Categories

    • Blog
    • Open Mind
    • Presentations
    • Well Read
  • Authors

  • Team UV Timezone: GMT -7 Hours
    24 Hour World Clock
Blog at WordPress.com.
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
%d bloggers like this: