Aerial and aquatic biological and bioinspired flow control strategies

Flow control is the attempt to favorably modify a flow field’s characteristics compared to how the flow would have developed naturally along the surface. Natural flyers and swimmers exploit flow control to maintain maneuverability and efficiency under different flight and environmental conditions. Here, we review flow control strategies in birds, insects, and aquatic animals, as well as the engineered systems inspired by them. We focus mainly on passive and local flow control devices which have utility for application in small uncrewed aerial and aquatic vehicles (sUAVs) with benefits such as simplicity and reduced power consumption. We also identify research gaps related to the physics of the biological flow control and opportunities for device development and implementation on engineered vehicles. Ahmed Othman and colleagues review flow control strategies used by birds, insects and aquatic animals, and how they have been adopted in engineered devices. The focus on passive and local flow control is of particular relevance to the design of small uncrewed aerial and aquatic vehicles.