Isn’t it wonderful that there are researchers out there whose job is quite simply to make a robotic bird? That’s certainly the goal of this lab, whose flapping-wing drone, or ornithopter, has now been equipped with a grasping claw to let it take a rest on a nearby branch or perhaps even a finger — a capability that could make it a much more practical tool.
There’s a good reason flight evolved over time, making use of flapping wings — they’re a lot simpler for a bird or insect to grow than rotors or jets, for one thing. Elegance is a hallmark of nature’s designs, and winged creatures fly or glide with a minimum of energy and a great deal of grace.
It should be no surprise that scientists have been at pains to re-create winged flapping flight in robotic form for decades, though, like all biomimetics research, meeting with mixed success. But the École Polytechnique Fedérale de L...
