Meet Ro-bat, Brown University's Robotic Bat Wing

The strong, flapping flight of bats offers great possibilities for the design of small aircraft, among many other applications. By building a robotic bat wing, Brown University researchers have uncovered flight secrets of real bats. Bat wing project leader and NSF Graduate Research Fellow Joseph Bahlman says the faux flapper generates data that could never be collected directly from live animals, and may lead to improved aircraft efficiency and help in the design of small flapping aircraft.