Page 10 - Festo Smartbird

Flying in freedom

Being able to fly like a bird is an age-old dream of humankind. Festo is turning this dream into reality. With carefree exuberance, SmartBird takes to the air.

Seagulls impress beach-goers with their daring flight manoeuvres. Whether alone or collectively in a flock, they seem to be in effortless control of the air. They fly, sail and glide until they suddenly plunge and then skil-fully pull out of their dive. The purpose of it all is to se-cure mere survival for themselves and their offspring.

Jonathan is above all of this. His purpose in life is to ex-perience the expanses of the ocean and the sky without limitations. His openness and untiring diligence finally enable him to transcend the bounds of physicality: he is free to move through space and time.

Festo likewise endeavours to responsibly lead the enter-prise into a secure future for coming generations – like Jonathan, on the basis of visionary ideas and future-ori-ented values.

Birds move through the air solely with the aid of their wings. Pure muscle power enables them to overcome the air resistance. Their sensory organs intuitively measure, control and regulate the necessary sequence of move-ments. The downward stroke of a bird’s outstretched wings displaces air to the rear. As well as providing for-ward thrust, this movement generates lift; the wings’ feathers lie close together to form a closed surface. On the upward stroke, the wings are slightly bent and twisted, so that the air can flow almost unimpeded between the feathers.