Festo SmartBird
Another beautiful bit of work from Festo biomimicry is something we are going to see lots of in the future. This has really brightened my Friday up! It looks right it flies right and guess what its more efficient because of it.
SmartBird is an ultralight but powerful flight model with excellent aerodynamic qualities and extreme agility. With SmartBird, Festo has succeeded in deciphering the flight of birds. This bionic technology-bearer, which is inspired by the herring gull, can start, fly and land autonomously – with no additional drive mechanism. Its wings not only beat up and down, but also twist at specific angles.This is made possible by an active articulated torsional drive, whichin conjunction with a complex control system makes for unprece -dented efficiency in flight operation. Festo has thus succeeded forthe first time in realising an energy-efficient technical adaptation of the natural model.
Know-how for automationThe functional integration of coupled drive units yields significant ideas and insights that Festo can transfer to the development and optimisation of hybrid drive technology. The minimal use ofmaterials and the extremely lightweight construction pave the wayfor efficiency in resource and energy consumption. The knowledge acquired in aerodynamics and flow behaviour yields new approaches and solutions for automation.
