Engineers Look to Nature for Solutions

We have noted before that many times engineers look to nature for solutions to design problems. This biomimicry helps us create new or more efficient devices. We imitated birds to achieve flight. Now aeronautical engineers are imitating a particular bird to create drones and aircraft that can maneuver in difficult situations.

A small Australian falcon called the nankeen kestrel (Falco cenchroides) can perform aerial maneuvers that outpace even advanced aircraft. It is among the world’s most stable flyers, able to make fine adjustments in flight when wind conditions try to blow it off course. Drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), have limited maneuverability because of weight, cost, or mechanical limitations. An international team of researchers has been experimenting with robot replicas of the nankeen kestrels to create more versatile UAVs.

Matt Penn is a co-author of the study and an engineer at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). He explained, “Birds don’t rely on a single response to wind gusts. They constantly adjust their wings and tails to stay balanced, while the natural flexibility of their feathers and joints helps absorb sudden changes in airflow.” The goal is to create UAVs that can mimic these subtle adjustments in flight.

Giving a robotic flying device the ability to emulate all the fine movements of the nankeen kestrel will be a design and engineering challenge. It seems to me that such a UAV would also need artificial intelligence to make subtle adjustments in real time while in the air. Think about the intelligence needed to design such a UAV. Then consider the intelligence needed to design the kestrel. It is not just a machine, but a living creature with everything it needs to sustain life while flying. This bird is no accident of natural selection, but an intelligently designed engineering marvel.

Another co-author of the research report, RMIT engineer Abdulghani Mohamed, said, “This research shows what’s possible when engineers look to nature for solutions.” I suggest it shows what is possible when we look at the handiwork of the Designer of life.

— Roland Earnst © 2026

 Reference: popsci.com

 You can find previous articles about biomimicry HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE