Although most conventional drones with multiple rotor blades have excellent flight capabilities, they lack the ability to navigate autonomously over terrain and have limited takeoff options. Swiss researchers were inspired by the structure of birds’ legs to develop a bird-shaped drone that can walk and fly.
How does it work?
“The Wright brothers invented the airplane inspired by birds, but even modern airplanes cannot match the mobility of birds,” explains Shin Won-dong, a postdoctoral researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Birds can walk, run, fly and land on the ground without the need for tracks or shuttles. Won-dong pointed to Nature“the engineering mechanisms of these behaviors are still in their infancy.”
Singh and his team developed RAVEN (Robotic Bird-Inspired Vehicle for Multiple Environments), an unmanned bird-like vehicle that can be used in various environments. As its name suggests, it is modeled after birds that frequently move between air and land, and can seamlessly transition from jumping to flying thanks to its lightweight, multifunctional legs. This allows autonomous takeoff in environments not suitable for conventional drones.
The drone is based on the movements of crows long observed on the EPFL campus and the unique proportions of the birds’ legs. Through trial and error, using mathematical models and computer simulations, the researchers arrived at the optimal structure for the total weight of 0.62 kg.
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Reproduces the energy efficiency of birds
The team created a lightweight, multifunctional leg by placing the heavy parts as close to the body as possible and combining springs and motors that mimic the tendons and muscles of birds. This leg consists of two joints, and It uses elastic vibrations that are produced when an object is tense and tries to return to its original state, allowing various moving postures such as walking, jumping and skipping.
According to the team, robots designed for walking and based on conventional robotics are too heavy to jump, while the legs of those created for jumping are not suitable for walking. RAVEN integrates both functions: it walks over rough terrain without difficulty and jumps over different heights of up to 26 cm. Plus, it can jump like a bird before taking flight, so you don’t have to choose where to take off from.
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