SmartBird

Name: SmartBird
Rating: 4.3 (4200 reviews)

A a white robotic seagull labelled FESTO flies across a blue sky. — SmartBird is inspired by the herring gull. Photo: Festo

SmartBird is a robotic seagull that flies by flapping its wings and steers by twisting them at specific angles. It has an aerodynamic design inspired by biology, and you can fly it with a remote control.

Creator

Festo

Year

2011

Country

Germany 🇩🇪

Categories

Aerospace

Features

SmartBird flies like a bird. Video: Festo

Did you know?

The design of SmartBird is based on the Herring gull.

A multiple exposure image shows the robotic gull's wings flapping. — How the wings move. Photo: Festo

A man in a suit prepares to throw the robotic seagull, by holding it over his head. The robot's torso alone is larger then his head. A large crowd is watching, but cordoned off. — Ready for takeoff. Photo: Festo

More Images

Aerial photo shows two people sitting at a desk with computers while the SmartBird flies overhead, indoors. — Flying the robot bird during a trial. Photo: Festo

Three men observe the robotic skeleton at a trade show. — SmartBird's skeleton is a lightweight carbon fiber structure. Photo: Festo

Specs

Overview: Bio-inspired, ultralight design. Has autonomous and teleoperation modes.
Status: Inactive
Year: 2011
Website: festo.com/bionic
Width: 200 cm
Length: 107 cm
Weight: 0.45 kg
Speed: 25 km/h
Sensors: Motor position Hall-effect sensors
Actuators: Graupner Compact 135 brushless DC motor. Two servos to control head and tail sections; two servos to control wing torsion.
Degrees of Freedom (DoF): 6
Materials: Carbon fiber and polyurethane foam.
Compute: Texas Instruments LM3S811 32-bit 50-MHz microcontroller. 868 MHz radio control module and 2.4 GHz two-way ZigBee module
Software: No OS. Custom software.
Power: 7.4-V 450-mA lithium-polymer battery, 20 minutes of operation