I am a huge fan of FESTO bionic robotics - they always succeed to surprise me. Their animal robots are mechanical art. Although almost all of the robots look simply made, every part of them contains a great amount of aero/hydrodynamic engineering thinking cooperated with organic appearance. Lets take a look at some of my favourite FESTO robots.
AIRACUDA
This robot represents a biomechanical clone of a fish. Instead of using motors to move its body, a pneumatic system is installed inside. "Electronics and pneumatics are hidden in its waterproof head and control the S-shaped movements of the tail fin via two fluidic muscles. Two further muscles are used for steering".
AQUA_RAY & AIR_RAY
This two robots look and move like manta ray. The difference in names shows that the AQUA_RAY can move in water and AIR_RAY - in air, although they look almost exactly the same. Both make use of servo- drives to move their wings and it is the bio-inspired construction of the wings that allow them to move in this organic manner through the air and water.
AQUAJELLY & AIRJELLY
Again two versions of the same robot - one moving through air, the other through water. Actually I am not a huge fan of jellyfish because they are ... you know ... jelly ... and fish, but those robots are beautiful especially the AquaJelly. "AquaJelly is an artificial autonomous jellyfish in water, a self-controlling system which emulates swarming behaviour. AquaJelly consists of a translucent hemisphere and eight tentacles for propulsion. At the centre of the AquaJelly is a watertight laser-sintered body. It houses a central electric motor, the two lithium-ion polymer batteries, the recharging control unit and the servo motors for the swash plate."
SmartBird
SmartBird is the latest FESTO creation. If you see a real seagull and this robot in the air next to each other I bet that you would not make a difference. It's beautiful, it's flying, it's mechanical, it's a robot. Just amazing. The construction is very light, several drives actuate the wings and the body at presice angles and the perfect aerodinamics qualities allow this robot to fly. "With SmartBird, Festo has succeeded in deciphering the flight of birds – one of the oldest dreams of humankind."
