The world’s most original drone
“PigeonBot” they call it and it’s a flying robot that has an effect similar to that of birds.
Even the most technologically advanced robots have a hard time replicating bird movements, as demonstrated by PigeonBot at Stanford University.
The perspectives from outside the airplane can seem amateurish or mediocre. The truth is that aircraft engineers understand how birds fly much better than we do. We still don’t know exactly what positions their feathers take at any given moment, but for now our technology is sufficient and in some cases superior.
Professor David Lentink wanted his students to work on a project, so he came up with an idea. He asked them to disassemble the industrial process of a bird’s feathers. The students took this task seriously and eventually built a bio-hybrid robot that mimics the real life engineering feat of wings so well that it is able to fly!
The university team’s project pleased scientists, who were eager to see how their findings would affect the field. Not only did it lead to a published study in the prestigious journal Science, it also went viral. It’s complete with media interest and public input.
The drone that sparked so much interest is finally out and available to view here! As for the academic paper, it’s been published in the scientific journal “Science Robotics“!
The team put a lot of effort into making their flying device seem realistic, so they used the real pigeon wings and a lightweight frame. They were able to build it without propellers at all because it has a propeller in the front part instead.
For the first time ever, the drone can even change its course up and down, regardless of how the bird is flying.
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Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
