Professor S.K. Gupta has been working on creating a robotic bird for over 8 years now, and other engineering groups across the world have also been working on robotic birds. And while the RoboRaven isn’t the first robotic bird to take flight, it is the first robotic bird to have two independently functioning wings. That gives it a huge advantage in flight, since the independent operation gives it more aerodynamic configurations and more practical applications.At 1:49 in the video the robotic bird is attacked by a hawk.
Via The Dish.
You might also enjoy SmartBird y Festo (ca 2011):
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Unfortunately the robotic bird's constantly-flapping wings resembles a bird in trouble, as if it has an injured wing, thus attracting the hawk to attack it. Most real birds soar at least part of the time with their wings motionless as they ride the wind or let their own momentum carry them along. Any hawk or predator bird will notice the difference...
ReplyDeleteGreat disappointment for the hawk. Still, it must have been fascinating for the engineers watching the interaction.
ReplyDeleteActually looks more like a butterfly in flight then a real bird, but still, quite an accomplishment.
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