Bridging the gap: a review of gust mitigation in birds and small uncrewed aerial vehicles

Small uncrewed aerial vehicles (SUAVs) are highly vulnerable to atmospheric gusts owing to their small sizes and operation in turbulent environments. Despite similar size limitations, birds navigate the same environments with remarkable steadiness. This review surveys the range of gust mitigation strategies and mechanisms employed by birds and SUAVs. Birds integrate many different gust mitigation techniques, including separation control mechanisms, aeroelastic responses, rich sensory feedback and active control. While a similar range of gust mitigation methods has been explored for SUAVs, most remain at low technology readiness levels and have typically been studied in isolation. The exceptional steadiness of birds appears to arise from effectively harnessing a wide array of gust mitigation techniques. Achieving bird-like steadiness in SUAVs will probably require the synergy of multiple gust mitigation techniques in a single platform, while carefully balancing trade-offs between stability, mass, manoeuvrability and efficiency.