EVIDENCE OF LEARNING #2 

 
TYPE OF ASSESSMENT: R
​ esearch Assessment 

DATE: ​November 30, 2018 

 
SUBJECT: A ​ erospace Engineering 
 
CITATION: 
 
Walters, Greg. “Drone Modeled on Insects Is Built to Crash Like a Champ.”  
Seeker​, Seeker, 13 Mar. 2017,  
https://www.seeker.com/drone-modeled-on-insects-is-built-to-crash-like- 
a-champ-2312751389.html 
 
ANALYSIS:  
 
Building a drone is a relatively easy project to take on since they are small, 
compact, and there are a lot of resources available to you both on the internet 
and in stores. As I approach creating my final product for ISM, I believe that I 
have to take into consideration the difficulty of the task I’m indulging in 
especially as I am studying aerospace engineering. 
 
When I asked Ian Marks, a current design engineer at Lockheed Martin, what 
projects he thought would be best suited for a high school student to take on 
with the limited resources they have, I was surprised to hear the many things he 
listed. Some of them were not even tangible products which were the only type 
of projects I was even considering. So while I had been very interested in 
creating a drone, after talking to Mr. Marks, I’ve realized the many opportunities I 
have for my final product and the necessity to take all of these opportunities into 
consideration.  
 
I’ve used this Evidence of Learning assessment to research into the prospects of 
my initial drone idea. Through a project like this, I will be experimenting most 
with aerodynamics and design engineering. If I am able to secure Mr. Marks as 
my mentor, I know that he will be most interested in helping me with this project 
which is something that makes me really excited about.  
 
I read an article relaying a research project conducted by a team of engineers 
who made it their mission to design a drone that could endure crashes much like 
insects with their exoskeletons. This article kickstarts my introduction to drones 
and what I need to be aware of when designing them. Through my aerospace 
engineering class last year, I’ve gained exposure to the engineering design 
process and specific components such as rockets, airfoils, and parachutes. 
Drones, however, are new to me. Upon reading this article, I have a general idea 
of what principles must be considered when design drones. 
 
Crashing and the resulting damage is a high concern for drones especially when 
an inexperienced flyer (me) is controlling it. The team in the article chose to 
combat this issue by looking into the wing design of drones. Their goal was to 
allow flexibility as well as ensure stiffness because in order to properly function 
aerodynamically, the drone’s wing design must be stiff. Upon contact with 
whatever it crashes into, the drone’s wing must be flexible enough to be able to 
absorb the energy that is translated upon collision. To do this, the team 
implemented an originally flexible design. On top of this, they utilized a magnet 
that would secure a payload to the drone and would lock in the wings so that 
when the drone is hovering and moving around, it would retain stiffness. As 
soon as the drone crashes into something, the magnet releases its hold and 
allows the wings to bend at will.  
 
This magnet coupled with a flexible design method is something that I feel like 
would be doable for me to recreate. I would have to read more into how to get a 
magnet to buckle upon contact to properly use this method. But reading into this 
article gives me a place to start in my design. It offers room to attach a payload 
to my drone. This is important because I want my drone to be able to carry 
things like medication and samples. It also should have a camera so that it can 
transport video feedback of its surroundings to its controller. Furthermore, 
building a drone that can endure damage is ideal for the environment my drone 
would be becoming exposed to.  
 
My next steps are to look more into utilizing a magnet in drone design. I will have 
to also seek out small drone design plans to start getting an idea of what 
supplies and how much of each I will be needing. 
 
 
 
 
 

   
Drone Modeled on Insects Is Built to Crash Like a 
Champ 
 
Greg Walters, March 13, 2017 

If you pilot a drone long enough, sooner or later, you're likely to smash it into a 
building, a wall, a tree, or the ground. 

And often enough, when drones crash, they break. 

Flying insects, however, knock into plants, walls, and windows all the time. And, 
so long as they're not being swatted, or smashed against the grill of a speeding 
car, they're often fine. 

So a team of researchers in Switzerland looked at insects to design a new type 

of frame for a drone that might survive a crash without suffering serious 
damage. Insects, they found, have ​exoskeletons​ and remain rigid enough for 
flight - but also ​flexible enough to absorb the energy of an impact​. 
The result of their work is a prototype that's ​stiff​ up in the air, but safely 
collapses upon collision, said one of the drone's inventors, Dr. Stefano Mintchev, 
by phone from Lausanne, Switzerland. 

"The solution we found was in the wings of insects, which revert from a stiff 
state to a soft state during collisions" said Mintchev, who works at the 
Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, or 
EPFL. "Wasps and bees employ this interesting biomechanical strategy to avoid 
damage." 

A drop-test comparison of the prototype versus a conventional, fully-rigid drone 

showed the new design was twice as good at dissipating the energy of a 
collision as the regular model, Mintchev said. 

The design also avoids drawbacks associated with other approaches to 
mitigating damage. 

 
Some drones feature protective cages or shields that act like bumpers. But those 
add weight and wind resistance, dampening performance. 

Building a drone out of material that's soft enough to better handle a crash 
typically means it will also be too floppy to fly well, and may buckle under 
aerodynamic pressure. Such a drone will likely also have trouble carrying an 
additional payload. 

Mintchev and his colleagues designed a frame that is fundamentally flexible, but 
is also stiffened with magnetic joints that buckle upon impact - similar to an 
electrical fuse that burns out during a power overload. 

That frame fits around a central case, which holds batteries and electronics. 
"During a collision, the magnetic joints behave like 'mechanical fuses' that 
disengage the frame from the central case and let it freely deform without 
failure," Mintchev and two co-authors wrote in a recently-published paper 
describing their work. 

This isn't the first time Mintchev and one of his co-authors on that paper, Dr. 
Dario Floreano, have turned to the animal kingdom for inspiration in designing 
innovative drones. 

The pair have also looked at vampire bats in order to build a drone that's capable 
of both flying and then walking after it lands. Such a drone could be useful in a 
disaster zone, Mintchev said, by flying quickly into an area before landing and 
performing reconnaissance, or, in the case of a nuclear accident, taking samples 
that might determine whether or not an area is safe for humans. 

Another drone designed by Mintchev and Floreano uses bird-like, retractable 

feathers to give the drone extra maneuverability in flight, as well as added 
resistance in high winds.