This autonomous ornithopter lands and lands in a single stroke

Isn’t it great that there are researchers whose job is simply to build a robot bird? That’s certainly the goal of this lab, whose flapping-wing drone or ornithopter is now equipped with a claw to prop it up on a nearby branch or even a finger, an ability that could make it a much more useful tool. 🇧🇷

There’s a good reason why flight evolved over time and flapping wings came into use: they’re much easier for a bird or an insect to develop than, say, rotors or jets. Elegance is a hallmark of nature’s design, and winged creatures fly or soar with a minimum of force and a great deal of grace.

It should come as no surprise that scientists have struggled for decades to replicate wing flight in robotic form, though like all biomimetic research it has had mixed success. But the École Polytechnique Fedérale de Lausanne, one of Switzerland’s most renowned technical universities, and the University of Seville are also doing very well.

The European multi-agency project GRIFFIN, let’s admit it first, has the craziest acronym I’ve ever encountered and I’ve come across many: General Compliance Robotic Airhandling System Fixed and Flatter Wing Integration to increase range and safety. OH MY GOD!

The wing flight portion of the project has been going on for years, with several achievements featured on the project’s YouTube page and website. You can see it shaking in this latest video.

But the problem with this method, as with many flights, is energy. Too little power and you can’t fly for a long time, but too big a battery and you can’t fly! (By the way, this gives one a newfound respect for the eagles that carry the cattle.) In the lab, there’s a trade-off between size and ability. But the newly added grab claw may help make that less of a concern.

The claw (the only one to save weight) had to be strong but light, like the rest of the ornithopter, capable of gripping sticks of various sizes and communicating with the GRIFFIN’s sensing mechanism. What they’ve designed is synchronized with the tapping motion, and their silicone-band-type design on first contact gently but firmly grips the robot without vibrating.

“Once an ornithopter has mastered autonomous perching on a branch, it has the potential to perform specific tasks, such as discreetly collecting biological samples or taking measurements on a tree. Eventually, it could even land on man-made structures, which could open up new areas of application,” says Raphael Zufferey, an EPFL postdoctoral researcher currently working at GRIFFIN in Seville.

It’s not just that you can land on a branch and do something; is that he does not have to return to the surface. Spending half your energy going from the ground to 10 meters in the air really limits your options. But if you can land on a branch, charge it up a bit (why not put a little solar cell in it?), do some work like take a photo or sample, then jump onto another branch along the way and do the same. ..it’s starting to look less like a tech demo and more like a capable robotic bird.

Zufferey hopes to continue development in this area; The clamp really opens things up for the project. But they’re not the only ones out there: hummingbird-inspired drones, dragonfly-inspired drones, and even bee-inspired drones are being developed for different purposes and in different stages of readiness. Just don’t tell people who say “birds aren’t real”.