The flapping of the wings produces a forceful thrust air robots, resulting in a quiet, safe and efficient ride. However, to expand its application, these robots must sit and land, a feat amply demonstrated by birds. Despite recent advances, swing-wing vehicles or helicopters are still unable to stop their flight today.
Now, researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) have developed a method that allows a robot with flapping wings to autonomously land on a horizontal perch using a claw-like mechanism.
To validate their method, the researchers developed a prototype robotic ornithopter, which had a wingspan of 1.5 meters (59 inches) and weighed just 700 grams. Designed by Rafael Zuffiri, a postdoctoral fellow at the EPFL Research Institute in Switzerland, the robot was built and tested in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Seville as part of the European Union’s GRIFFIN project.
The ornithopter features a single carbon fiber spring loaded mechanical claw, fully internal computer and navigation system, which has been equipped with an external motion capture system to help him find himself. The ornithopter’s claw tips are precisely calibrated to compensate for the vibrations of up and down flight as you try to sharpen and grip them.
The claws are designed to absorb the robot’s forward momentum upon impact, and snap shut quickly and consistently to support its weight. once afloat, Robot It remains perched without consuming energy. The tenacious claw attack can grab a branch in 25 milliseconds and open it again.
Zoveri and his colleagues also managed to account for all of these factors and ultimately constructed not one but two pattern options to replicate their results. For future work, the researchers are already thinking about ways to extend and improve their device, especially in outdoor environments.
“Currently the flight tests are done indoors because we need a controlled flight area with precise positioning from a motion capture system,” he said deadline. “In the future, we want to increase the robot’s autonomy to perform sitting and handling tasks outdoors in more unpredictable environments.”
This work paved the way for the application of wing-flapping robots for remote tasks, birding, handling, and outdoor flight.
Magazine reference:
- Rafael Zufferi, Jesus Tormo Barbero, Daniel Filho-Talegon, Said Raffi Nico, Jose Angel Acosta and Anibal Olero. How ornithopters managed to sit independently on branches. Nature Communications, 2022; DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35356-5
