Arobot with bird-like legs that can walk, hop, leap and jump for take-off into flight has been designed in Switzerland in an engineering breakthrough that could enable aircraft to operate in difficult-to-manage terrain.
The RAVEN (Robotic Avian-inspired Vehicle for multiple Environments) was engineered in by Won Dong Shin, a doctoral student at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and reported in the journal Nature today.
“I really enjoy watching birds and find them fascinating,” Shin told Newsweek. “Their ability to combine aerial and terrestrial locomotion allows them to access places that humans cannot easily reach. This inspired me to consider the potential of a bird-like robot in various fields, particularly for delivery and search-and-rescue missions.
“Observing birds closely, I found their jumping take-off to be the most interesting. While conventional fixed-wing vehicles are inspired by birds, they rely on runways or launchers for take-off, unlike birds. I found the idea of eliminating the need for a runway or launcher in fixed-wing vehicles to be a fascinating research challenge.”
The hindlimbs of birds have a range of functions, such as walking, hopping, leaping and jumping for take-off into flight. These are all capabilities which could be used for aerial robots. However, up to now, building robots that can do this was challenging, as the systems were either to complex, or heavy to fly properly.
Won Dong Shin and his colleagues overcame these engineering challenges to design a robot with limbs that can move like those of a bird. The limbs have structures that mimic a hip, ankle and foot, although the design is not as complex as the multisegmented leg anatomy seen in birds.
The fact that RAVEN can jump into take off, just like a bird, is shown to contribute substantially to flight take-off speed and is more energy efficient than taking off without a jump. Although further improvements are needed, the RAVEN leg design could inspire the design of more versatile machines that can use multiple ways of moving.
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