Page 50 - Festo Smartbird

ensure SmartBird’s flight stability and operational relia-bility at all times, so that the artificial bird can correct its flight by intuitive means. The constant data acquisition and the real-time control of various parameters can like-wise be applied in automation. Processes at industrial facilities can thus be perfected without loss of time.

During flight, SmartBird’s active articulated torsional drive combines forward propulsion and lift in a single function. When the rapidity of pneumatics is combined with the precision of electric linear axes, as in this model, new perspectives arise for the development of hybrid drive technologies. Coupled drives for linear and rotary movement can be used for example in process automa-tion or in stroke wing generators. The underlying princi-ple here is the physical reversal of bird flight: a seagull