Researchers are looking at the lift production mechanism of flying snakes, which undulate side to side as they descend from the tops of trees to the ground to avoid predators or move rapidly and effectively.
The researchers created a computational model based on data obtained from high-speed video of the snakes and took into account several factors, including the angle of attack that the snake forms with the oncoming air circulation as well as the regularity of its undulations, to evaluate which have been important in producing glide.
Flying snakes help scientists design new robots
Museums Victoria/Unsplash
Robots have been programmed to replicate animal actions such as walking and swimming.
Scientists are currently thinking about ways to create robots that imitate the gliding motion of flying snakes, as per ScienceDaily.
Researchers from the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech investigated the lift-generating mechanism of flying snakes, which undulate side-to-side as they glide from the tops of trees to the ground to avoid predators or move fast and effectively.
Snakes may glide for great distances, up to 25 meters from a 15-meter tower, because of the undulation.
To further understand how the undulations give lift, the researchers created a computer model based on data from high-speed footage of flying snakes.
The cross-sectional form of the snake's body, which resembles an extended frisbee or flying disc, is an important component of this concept.
The snake's cross-sectional form is critical to understanding how it can glide thus far.
The spinning disc in a frisbee cause increased air pressure beneath the disc and suction on its top, lifting the disc into the air.
The snake undulates side to side to help produce the same sort of pressure difference throughout its body, generating a low-pressure zone above its back and a high-pressure region beneath its belly.
This elevates the snake and helps it to glide through the air.
LEVs develop near the head and go back down the body.
The researchers discovered that the LEVs hold for longer times near the snake's body curves before being shed.
These curves arise during undulation and are critical to comprehending the lifting process.
The crew looked studied numerous factors, including the snake's angle of attack with the approaching airflow and the frequency of its undulations, to identify which were significant in creating glide.
Flying snakes undulate at a frequency of one to two times per second in their native habitat.
Surprisingly, the researchers discovered that faster undulation reduces aerodynamic performance.
The term "flying snake" is misleading because these creatures cannot fly unless there is a significant updraft, as per the National Geographic.
They're gliders, and they use the speed of free fall and body contortions to capture the air and produce lift.
Recent scientific research has uncovered specific information regarding how these limbless, tube-shaped animals transform plunging into piloting.
A flying snake will slither to the end of a branch and dangle in a J shape to prepare for take-off.
It launches itself off the branch with the bottom half of its body, swiftly forms an S, then flattens to nearly twice its normal width, resulting in a concave C shape that can trap air.
The snake may perform turns by undulating back and forth.
Flying snakes are technically better gliders than their more well-known mammalian counterparts, flying squirrels.
Scientists don't know how frequently or why flying snakes fly, but it's probable they do so to avoid predators, migrate from tree to tree without having to drop to the forest floor, and potentially even seek prey.
