Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Content

Eye, Robot: Researchers Give Machines a New Perspective with Active Vision

Andy Fell — November 26, 2024 - 2:46pm

When Iman Soltani worked in the automotive industry, he studied assembly floors and noticed that each automated task had its specific robotic design.

He also noticed that while a robot would need multiple cameras affixed to several locations for the best possible sightline, an operator on the assembly floor would move their head and neck to get the best view as they manipulated components.

Thriving in Outer Space with Stephen Robinson

Jose Antonio Vadi — October 29, 2024 - 9:34am

Professor Stephen Robinson’s childhood obsession with flying objects shaped a career that led him to becoming one himself as a NASA astronaut.

�ٺ��Ƶ Establishes Bird Flight Research Center

Andy Fell — February 01, 2024 - 9:00am

By studying birds of prey in flight, a new lab at the �ٺ��Ƶ California Raptor Center will give insight into designing drones and treating injured birds.

Engineer Studying Bird Flight Awarded Packard Fellowship

Andy Fell — October 16, 2023 - 8:00am

Christina Harvey, a University of California, Davis, researcher studying how bird flight can be used to improve aircraft design, has been awarded a 2023 Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Sexing Chicken Eggs by Scent

Andy Fell — May 22, 2023 - 11:00am

Fertilized chicken eggs can be sexed by “sniffing” volatile chemicals emitted through the shell, according to new work by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and Sensit Ventures Inc., a startup company in Davis. The work is published May 22 in PLOS ONE.

Engineers Study Bird Flight

Andy Fell — September 06, 2022 - 2:02pm

With a combination of wind tunnel studies and modeling of inertial forces, aerospace engineer Christina Harvey shows how gulls maintain stable, controllable flight with wrist movements.

A Breath Test for Opioids

Andy Fell — October 03, 2019 - 11:09am

A test to detect opioid drugs in exhaled breath has been developed by engineers and physicians at the University of California, Davis. A breath test could be useful in caring for chronic pain patients as well as for checking for illegal drug use.