Aerodynamic lightweight design with active torsion 2 SmartBird is an ultralight but powerful flight model with excellent aerodynamic qualities and extreme agility. With SmartBird, Festo has succeeded in deciphering the flight of birds. This bionic technology-bearer, which is inspired by the herring gull, can start, fly and land autonomously – with no additional drive mechanism. Its wings not only beat up and down, but also twist at specific angles. This is made possible by an active articulated torsional drive, which in conjunction with a complex control system makes for unprecedented efficiency in flight operation. Festo has thus succeeded for the first time in realising an energy-efficient technical adaptation of the natural model. Know-how for automation The functional integration of coupled drive units yields significant ideas and insights that Festo can transfer to the development and optimisation of hybrid drive technology. The minimal use of materials and the extremely lightweight construction pave the way for efficiency in resource and energy consumption. The knowledge acquired in aerodynamics and flow behaviour yields new approaches and solutions for automation. The fascination of bird flight One of the oldest dreams of mankind is to fly like a bird – to move freely through the air in all dimensions and to take a “bird’s-eye view” of the world from a distance. No less fascinating is bird flight in itself. Birds achieve lift and remain airborne using only the muscle power of their wings, with which they generate the necessary thrust to overcome the air resistance and set their bodies in motion – without any rotating “components”. Nature has ingeniously achieved the functional integration of lift and propulsion. Birds measure, control and regulate their motion through the air continuously and fully autonomously in order merely to survive. For this purpose they use their sense organs.
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