The dragonfly has been long praised for its ability to help control populations of harmful insects. But could this nimble insect with its multi-faceted eyes, elongated body and two pairs of powerful wings, also hold the key to controlling harmful threats to public safety?
We recently reached out to a number of journalists to let them know about research that is being done on the flight dynamics of these four-winged insects. Researchers at Wright State University have been studying dragonflies with the ultimate goal of developing quad-winged micro-air vehicles (MAVs) that mimic the flight of dragonflies.
Quad-winged MAVs are being developed to monitor activity in public places, such as sports stadiums or public transit stations, to help detect biological or chemical weapons. The vehicles will also be used to search for victims of fires, bombs and other threats in spaces that are unsafe or too small for people to enter.
Led by Dr. Haibo Dong, graduate students are using computer models to study the movement and physics surrounding dragonfly flight. With the help of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) visualization tools, such as Tecplot 360, Dr. Dong and his team are able to examine and analyze the dragonfly flight under a variety of conditions and create still images that allow them to scrutinize the actions frame by frame.
Communiqué PR is publicizing the work of the researchers and helping journalists understand how theyíre using Tecplot. On Nov. 18, Red Orbit, a Web site devoted to science news, published a case study about the research. To read the case study online, click here.
We also have received interest in this story from journalists with Discover magazine, Science magazine, R&D and Desktop Engineering. We will keep you posted when additional articles on this subject appear.