Joel Kontinen
A bird-inspired robot called RAVEN can walk, hop and jump into flight, an abFlying robot leaps upwards and then takes to the air like a birdility that could help people develop fixed-wing drones that can take off and land anywhere
Humans have
recently made that can jump into the air like a bird this would eliminate the need
for runways for small fixed winged drones.
“Birds use the powerful explosive force generated by
their legs to leap into the air and start flying, but building a robot that can
withstand the strong acceleration and forces involved in doing that has proved
difficult. ”
This is a case for intelligent design. It relies also on biomimicry. Biomimicry or biomimetics has recently become a success, that is, copying amazing design seen in nature, has become a flourishing research field.
Now, Won
Dong Shin at the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL)
and his colleagues have built a flying propellered robot called RAVEN that can
walk, hop and jump into the air to start flying, with legs that work like a
bird’s.
“Fixed-wing vehicles, like airplanes, always require a
runway or a launcher, which is not found everywhere. It really requires
designated infrastructure to make an airplane take off,” says Shin. “But if you see
a bird, they just walk around, jump and take off. For them, it’s quite easy.
They don’t need any external assistance.”
Unlike real birds’ legs, which have joints at the hip,
knee and ankle, RAVEN’s legs have just two joints, at the hip and knee, that
are powered by motors. There is also a spring in each foot that can store and
release elastic energy. Using fewer components meant that Shin and his team
could keep RAVEN to a weight of around 600 grams, similar to that of a crow.
Source:
Alex Wilkins 2024 Flying robot leaps upwards and then takes to the air like a bird | New Scientist4 December
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