Cara Williamson

My research uses animal tracking technology and wind modelling to analyse the flight strategies of urban nesting gulls. These flight strategies can be used to create path planning algorithms for UAVs flying in an urban landscape. Cityscapes create complex air flows; UAVs are susceptible to gusts and turbulence, this limits the flight performance in urban environments. Furthermore, the range and endurance that UAVs can achieve is dependant on the energy stored on board which is weight limited. On the other hand, birds are able to seamlessly navigate complex flows, avoid turbulent areas and use updraughts and thermals to soar. By understanding the flight strategies that birds use I hope to solve the two pitfalls in UAV technology; creating a path planning algorithm that can avoid the turbulent terrain and reduce the energy cost of flight through wind harvesting.