A group of engineers from Stanford and Groningen Universities designed a robot that can fly, grasp objects, and perch on various surfaces.
Millions of years of evolution have made taking off and landing for birds look easy, regardless of which branch they use. An ability that has inspired a robot that can fly, grasp objects, and perch on various surfaces.
This invention is the work of a team of engineers from the universities of Stanford (United States) and Groningen (Holland), who explain its operation in an article by Science Robotics.
It is a “stereotypical aerial grabber inspired by nature” (Snag) that, coupled with a four-motor drone, forms a robot capable of imitating the technique of birds to perch on almost any type of object. branch.
“It’s not easy to imitate how birds fly and perch,” says William Roderick, one of the authors. “After millions of years of evolution, they make takeoff and landing seem so easy, even amid all the complexity and variability of tree branches that you would find in a forest.”
The team studied the flight of the parakeets, but the Snag’s legs are based on those of the peregrine falcon, to take into account the size of the drone on which it is docked.
The parakeets were recorded as they flew from one side to the other between special perches, of different sizes and materials such as wood, foam, sandpaper or Teflon, and there were also sensors that captured the physical forces associated with the landings, perched and takeoffs.
The team was surprised that the birds performed the same aerial maneuvers, regardless of the surfaces they landed on. “They let the legs handle the variability and complexity of the surface texture itself,” he added.
How Snag works
Like parakeets, Snag approaches each landing in the same way, but with legs inspired by those of the peregrine falcon. Instead of bones, it has a 3D-printed frame and motors and fishing line, instead of muscles and tendons.
Each leg has its own motor to move back and forth and another to handle the grip. Like tendons run through the ankle of birds, the robot has a mechanism that absorbs the energy of the landing impact and converts it into grip force.
When on a branch, Snag’s ankles lock and an accelerometer on the right leg reports that the robot has landed and activates a balance algorithm to stabilize it.
The researchers used the robot with two dispositions – anissodactyl (three fingers in front and one behind, like a peregrine falcon) and zygodactyl (two fingers in front and two behind, like a parakeet) – and found that there was very little difference in performance between the two.
In addition, the robot’s ability to catch hand-thrown objects, including a prey dummy, a bag of grain, and a tennis ball, was tested.
These researchers consider that there are “innumerable” possible applicationssuch as search and rescue or forest fire surveillance.
For Roderick, one of the most interesting is environmental research, which is why they fitted him with a temperature and humidity sensor that was used to record the microclimate of Oregon (United States).
The team is of the opinion that, in general, the performance of the robot was so good that the next steps in development will probably focus on what happens before landing, such as improving situational awareness and flight control. (I)
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