Aerodynamic tails in biology and robotics

Animals often use their tails to stabilize their bodies and execute rapid maneuvers. Field observations of animals, analysis of simplified mechanical models, and experiments with robot proxies have collectively revealed that tails can generate both inertial and aerodynamic reaction torques that contribute to such maneuvers. The relative contributions of inertial and aerodynamic effects depend on factors such as the movement dynamics of the organism, its kinematics, and the relative velocity of the surrounding air and are largely unknown. This perspective aims to discuss ongoing research on aerodynamic-dominate tail flicking regimes, emphasizing studies on robotic templates.