Here comes the flying robot to make you awe: Smartbird ‘Festo’

The world has seen the humanoid robot- Sophia which was a majestic concept of ‘technology that imbibes human emotion. Another comes here is ‘Smartbird’- Festo which just takes off and flies like any other bird smoothly! 

For the SmartBird, Festo is inspired by the bird ‘herring gull’. The ultra-light flying model moves with its outstanding aerodynamics and maximum agility and is able to take off, fly and land without an additional drive.

How?

In doing so, its wings not only beat up and down, but twist in a specific manner. This is done using an active articulated torsion drive, which provides both lift and propulsion. With this functional integration, Festo has technically deciphered bird flight.

Controlled by a radio handset, it can also simply glide through the skies if left to its own devices. Steering is achieved when the SmartBird, which weighs just 450grams, moves its tail and turns its head from side-to-side. Inspired by the herring seagull, scientists at technology firm Festo control the up/down flapping motion of the wings by spinning two wheels inside the robot's torso.

Similar to the wheels on a steam train, these are connected by rods that in turn provide the wings with their flapping movement.The angle of the wings is adjusted by using 'torsional motors' that point the wings upwards on the up-stroke, making the SmartBird soar higher, and point downward on the down-stroke.

A spokesman for Festo said: 'The minimal use of materials and the extremely lightweight construction pave the way for efficiency in resource and energy consumption.'