Flocking Hybrot Ornithopters to Assist Wildlife Aerodynamic Research

Dead birds preserved with taxidermy and powered with micro-size UAV electronics and servos are being converted into flying ornithopters at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro. A hybrot (short for ‘hybrid robot’) is a cybernetic robot that contains both computerized and biological elements. The hybrots will be used in the study of bird wildlife and for researching flock aerodynamics. In the photo showing an RC transmitter, Mechanical engineering professor Mostafa Hassanalian and Ph.D student Brenden Herkenhoff are working with a taxidermy bird drone at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, New Mexico. The light blue servos shown control the hybrot’s tail feathers in pitch and roll. An earlier iteration of what appears to be a test model shows a brushless motor and propeller. Story and photos via Zerohedge.com, and courtesy of REUTERS/Liliana SalgadoRead.

Our thanks to CDR David Place (USN/Ret), davidplace47[at]gmail[dot]com, and Robin E. Alexander, President ATC, alexander technical[at]gmail[dot]com, for their assistance with this report, the background for which appeared in their  # 23 - 5 - 21 APRIL 2023 edition of the UNMANNED SYSTEMS NEWS (USN). Thanks also to CAPT Julio Guiterrez (USN/Ret) for sourcing this information.

David distributes the USN, a free, comprehensive newsletter in PDF format every week or two, as well as serial news flashes, from which this NREF news update was sourced. To be included in his distribution, simply send a subscribe request to davidplace47[at]gmail[dot]com.