A robot that flies like a bird revealed at TED conference
Some things are simply amazing.
Plenty of robots can fly, but none can fly like a real bird. That is, until Markus Fischer and his team of engineers at the German technology company, Festo, developed SmartBird, an avian robot that can take off and fly through the air by simply flapping its wings.
SmartBird was inspired by the herring gull, Larus argentatus. It is a bit larger than this gull species, with a two-metre wingspan and a carbon-fiber “skeleton” that weighs 450 grams. Like live birds, SmartBird’s “torso” can flex, providing directional control and is radio-controlled and monitored from afar.
As you would expect, the wings move up and down, generating lift, but the wings also twist and flex in flight like those of a real bird. This torsion keeps the wing’s leading edge pointed upwards during the upward stroke, so that the wing adopts a positive angle of attack. This smooth sequence of wing movements generates thrust.
It will be interesting to see what this could lead to in manned flight and aeroplane designs. Imaging flying to your holiday destination on a giant mechanical bird!
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