M
en have been fascinated
by bird flight from time
immemorial. Visionaries,
scientists, flight pioneers –
for them flying was one of the most
fascinating challenges and one of the
greatest adventures. They studied bird
flight closely and analysed the anatomy
of birds in detail. Inspired by the seagull,
Festo has now managed to technically
imitate bird flight with the SmartBird.
The bionic bird is taking a revolutionary
step towards an extremely energy and
resource-efficient, lightweight design.
The integration of coupled drive functions
developed during this process provides
wonderful inspiration for and an excellent
insight into the optimisation of hybrid
drive technologies. The many years’
experience gained with the AirRay and
AirPenguin bionic learning projects
influenced the development of the
SmartBird. The knowledge acquired
during the project opened up new
approaches and solutions for automation.
Integrated concepts
The SmartBird is pure fascination.
Its integrated mechatronic, cybernetic
design combines many separate
solutions into one unique flying machine.
The development was only possible as
a result of the integration of intelligent
mechanics and electric drive technology,
discoveries made in fluid mechanics,
intelligent control and feedback control
systems and condition monitoring.
This was combined with constant
scientific validation and the transfer
of knowledge gained in practice.
Active torsion
SmartBird takes off, flies and lands
autonomously – just by flapping its wings.
Its wings not only move up and down but
rotate in a controlled way. This is made
possible by the active articulated
torsional drive. This, combined with
a complex control unit, achieves
electromechanical efficiency of up to 45%
in flight mode. The active torsion of
the wing works without additional drive
aids and helps to achieve aerodynamic
efficiency levels of up to 80%. The
wings beat and twist in a cycle of a few
milliseconds and bring about the
optimum flow conditions of the air on
the wing. The SmartBird operates
without any rotating parts in the outer
shell and is thus unlikely to injure people.
Perfection in motion
The SmartBird’s flight is made up of two
principal movements. Firstly, the wings
beat up and down whereby a lever
mechanism causes the deflections to
increase from the torso to the wing tip.
Secondly, the wing twists so that the
leading edge points upwards during
the upwards stroke and the wing has
a positive angle of attack.
The wing consists of a two-part arm wing
spar with an axle bearing on the torso,
a trapezoidal joint and a hand wing spar.
The SmartBird’s propulsion and lift are
achieved solely by flapping the wings
and it only needs about 25 watts of power.
All this with a total weight of about
450 grams and a wing span of two metres.
Aerodynamic efficiency of 80%
While being developed SmartBird was tested and measured in accordance
with the work of French physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey (1830 –1904).
He made birds fly in a circle and studied their flight. A test device called
a brake dynamometer was specially developed to determine the
electromechanical effectiveness. SmartBird and its previous models have
an electromechanical effectiveness of about 45%. When measured in
a true run, aerodynamic effectiveness values of up to 80% were recorded.
Determining
overall efficiency in true running.