Blogs

You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!

Join diydrones

Comments

  • Chris Card March 26, 2011 at 10:24pm
    Thats most delicious looking ornithopter I've ever seen. :)
    The Iphly would be a very nice way to control it too.
    Does entertainment count as an application?
  • Paul Marsh March 25, 2011 at 6:27pm
    Just to clarify--my question about applications was not meant to say that without an immediate problem to solve such research should be dropped.  I just wanted to know if anyone knew of any practical applications.  Really, it was that simple.  Also, there was a post here recently about a similar hummingbird project.  So this sort of thing is being researched for more than advertising, I assume, but I'm still wondering about how they might be used.  Actually, even really cool toys is a legitimate application.
  • MarcS March 25, 2011 at 1:45pm

    Festo has a really good feeling what to show to get publicity.

    Too sad these projects (penguins, airfish....) are really only that: publicity. Most are built by external companies and there is no intention in further developement (by festo themself). The SmartBird will be the main attraction at the upcoming hannover fair, one of the biggest industrial fairs worldwide. Festo gets lots of media attention they would not get without that (realtively small booth compared to the big players..), even if they deserved it (their products are really great, have used pneumatic cylinders, tubing and connectors for many airblanes!)

    Great bird anyway, the animation in the second video shows some interesting inside. No magic, just brilliant model airplane engineering. If I see that my silverlit IBird has 5min endurance, this could fly for some time!

     

  • Kyle March 25, 2011 at 1:06pm

    @ Duane & Paul Marsh: Not that many useful/cost effective ways to use Kevlar or Carbon Fiber when they first arrived on scene... it's not the application of these technologies together that is the purpose, but the what develops from them.  If no one here can think of something interesting to do with these technologies and knowledge, well lets not go down that road...

  • Crescent UAV March 25, 2011 at 12:49pm
    Sarah Connor would not approve.
  • Paul Marsh March 25, 2011 at 11:15am

    @Duane -- "Industrial spying... etc."

     

    So, in other words, there are no applications?

  • AUQ March 25, 2011 at 10:38am
    In Dubai they use falcons to frighten off pigeons.

    Perhaps this could be an alternative to the real thing, one of the advantages being you'd be full in control of the bird.
  • Paul Marsh March 25, 2011 at 10:10am
    Other than hiding cameras and other surveillance hardware in a biomimicry device, what would be the practical applications for these?
  • Kris Nackaerts March 25, 2011 at 9:21am

    Duane, I believe you need some extra work on your controller:

    adelaar-door-voorruit.jpg

  • Crescent UAV March 25, 2011 at 8:46am

    saw this this morning... absolutely terrifying

     

This reply was deleted.