# 23. Bird-Inspired Drone Wings, Scaling Digital Twins, Tracking Microplastics From Space

- Show: [The Next Byte Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast)
- Published: 2021-06-22
- Length: 22m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2021-06-22-23-bird-inspired-drone-wings-scaling-digital-twins-tracking-microplastics-from-s
- Listen: https://the-next-byte-wevolver.simplecast.com/episodes/23-bird-inspired-drone-wings-scaling-digital-twins-microplastic-tracking-from-space-t6gRTw_3

## Summary

Hosts Daniel Scott Mitchell and Farbod Moghaddam discuss three engineering breakthroughs: Christina Harvey’s PhD research at UMich on seagull-inspired morphable drone wings for stability; Michael Capton’s MIT framework for scaling digital twins across physical assets like UAVs and health monitors; and UMich researchers repurposing NASA’s CYGNSS satellites to track microplastic pollution in the ocean.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2021-06-22-23-bird-inspired-drone-wings-scaling-digital-twins-tracking-microplastics-from-s#t=0) Introduction and Review Shoutouts
- [2:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2021-06-22-23-bird-inspired-drone-wings-scaling-digital-twins-tracking-microplastics-from-s#t=133) Bird-Inspired Morphable Drone Wings
- [9:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2021-06-22-23-bird-inspired-drone-wings-scaling-digital-twins-tracking-microplastics-from-s#t=547) Scaling Digital Twins for UAVs and Health
- [14:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2021-06-22-23-bird-inspired-drone-wings-scaling-digital-twins-tracking-microplastics-from-s#t=899) Tracking Microplastics with Repurposed Satellites

## Topics

- [Robotics & autonomy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/robotics-and-autonomy)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Sustainability & circular products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sustainability-and-circularity)

## Most relevant to

makers and hobbyists

## Mentioned

- Christina Harvey (other)
- University of Michigan (company)
- Michael Capton (other)
- MIT (company)
- Aurora Flight Sciences (company)
- Waymo (company)
- Apple Watch (product)
- NASA CYGNSS (other)
- Sentinel 6 (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Episode Thirty-Six: Ignazio Maria Viola](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2023-02-10-episode-thirty-six-ignazio-maria-viola) (Robot Talk)
- [Episode Fourteen – Aerial Robotics: taking flight](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-02-25-episode-fourteen-aerial-robotics-taking-flight) (Robot Talk)
- [Episode Seventeen – Bioinspired Robots: learning from nature](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2022-06-13-episode-seventeen-bioinspired-robots-learning-from-nature) (Robot Talk)
- [Bonus Episode: Robotics for Sustainability (ERF 2026)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2026-08-13-bonus-episode-robotics-for-sustainability-erf-2026) (Robot Talk)
- [Episode 107: Animal-inspired robot movement - Robert Siddall](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-01-31-episode-107-animal-inspired-robot-movement-robert-siddall) (Robot Talk)

## Citing this page

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