---
title: "Long-Eared Bats Are Helping Us Make Drones"
description: "Researchers at the Lund University in Sweden found that the ears and bodies of long-eared bats actually assist in lift generation, and that their flight techniques may be useful in future drone designs."
date: "2016-05-09"
modified: "2016-05-09"
authors:
  - name: "Colin Aboy"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/colin"
url: "https://futurism.com/long-eared-bats-helping-us-make-drones"
categories:
  - "Drones"
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "drone"
  - "flight technique"
  - "long-eared bats"
---

# Long-Eared Bats Are Helping Us Make Drones

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/long-eared-bat_A.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Anders Hedenström / Lund University\</em\>*

Some bats have rather largish ears, which (unsurprisingly) doesn't make for very fantastic aerodynamic flight. Indeed, theoretical views of the form and function (aka morphology) of bats' ears have long held that the ears just caused drag, but a new research shows otherwise.

The study, which was [published](<http://www.nature.com/articles/srep24886>) in *Scientific Reports*, was conducted by researchers from the Lund University in Sweden. It shows a detailed look at the flight maneuvers of long-eared bats, and remarkably, it could lead to new flight mechanisms for drones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhEkperhZMQ

The researchers observed that the bats' bodies and ears actually helped in generating lift based on the way the air moves around their bodies. Moreover, they found a novel mechanism in the bats' flight technique to generate thrust force at slow speeds, giving them maneuverability.

The bats were made to fly through a wind tunnel to reach a food source. The researchers used smoke illuminated by lasers to map the force distribution of the bats' flight patterns.

Lead author Christoffer Johansson Westheim asserts that flight control at low speeds is very challenging, and that this study offers insight to [future drone designs](<https://futurism.com/googles-future-delivery-drone-might-just-talk>) to improve control mechanisms.