Abstract
Gliding mammals, such as flying squirrels, exhibit remarkable flight abilities by dynamically controlling their wing membranes (patagia), using their limbs and tail to manoeuvre between trees. They achieve agile and manoeuvrable gliding by adjusting their body and wing shape to control trajectory and stability. While research on bio-inspired drones primarily focuses on avian flight, the aerodynamic implications of whole-body morphing paired with soft membrane deformations in mammalian gliders remain unexplored. To address this, we developed the SquirrelDrone, a bioinspired drone capable of continuously modulating its shape via limb and tail actuation, coupled with passive deformations of its skin-like membrane. This design enables the investigation of how coordinated limb motion and membrane morphing affect aerodynamic forces during flying. Wind-tunnel and flight experiments show that gliding-mammal-inspired morphing significantly improves drone stability, agility, and manoeuvrability, providing a bioinspired framework for understanding how whole-body morphing contributes to flight control in future morphing aircraft.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Erik van der Horst for piloting the drone during outdoor flight tests; Anton Lang for assistance with the autopilot development and wind tunnel testing; Baihui Chen, Ziqing Ma, Yiyuan Zou, Hang Yu, Yilun Wu, Yujie Wang, Chaoxiang Ye, Dequan Ou, Xiaoyan Bai, and Shenqi Wang for their assistance with the wind tunnel experiments; and Peter Duyndam, Dennis Bruikman, and Ferdinand Schrijer from the Delft University of Technology Open Jet wind tunnel facility for technical support. This research received no specific funding.
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Zheng, L., van Zuijlen, A. & Hamaza, S. A squirrel-inspired drone with enhanced stability, agility and maneuverability via whole-body morphing. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72822-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72822-w
