What drones can learn from birds about wind gusts

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-04-29 09:01

Australia; VIC

Photo by Anurag Jain on Unsplash

Drones could learn a thing or two from birds about being stable in wind gusts, according to Australian research, which compared how birds and drones cope with gusty conditions. The review found that birds are able to stay stable in gusty wind by effectively combining many different strategies, including changing the shape of their wings and tails and a wealth of sensory data that allows them to monitor the effects of a gust encounter and determine the best response. The researchers say that while many similar ideas have been proposed for drone stability, they are often studied in isolation and remain at early stages of development, and achieving bird-like stability will likely require integrating multiple different gust mitigation strategies.

News release

From: The Royal Society

Bridging the Gap: A Review of Gust Mitigation in Birds and Small UAVs

Journal of the Royal Society Interface

Bird-sized fixed-wing Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are easily perturbed by gusts and turbulence because of their small sizes. Birds fly with remarkable stability in the same conditions, however. This review compares how birds and SUAVs cope with gusts. Birds effectively combine many different gust mitigation mechanisms including passive flexibility, flow separation control, rich sensory feedback, and extensive wing morphing. Although many similar ideas have been proposed for small UAVs, they are often studied in isolation and remain at early stages of development. Achieving bird-like stability in UAVs will likely require effective integration of multiple different gust mitigation strategies.

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Journal/
conference: Journal of the Royal Society Interface

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: RMIT University

Funder: This research was undertaken as part of the RMIT Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research Team, within the Sir Lawrence Wackett Aerospace Research Centre, at RMIT University. This research was funded by the US Air Force Office for Scientific Research (AFOSR), grant numbers FA9550-19-1-7017 and FA2386-22-1-0076 (RMIT University). This research was also funded by the Defence Science Institute (DSI) and Defence Science Technology Group (DSTG). The work is part of NATO RTO AVT-347 ‘Large-amplitude gust mitigation strategies for rigid wings’ and input from the NTAO team is appreciated

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