Watching a diving bird vanish beneath the water can feel almost unreal.One moment it cruises through the sky.
Seconds later, it swims after prey before returning to the air.Around 100 bird species can move between those two environments.
Engineers have found that natural ability incredibly difficult to recreate at a small scale.Now, researchers at MIT and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, known as EPFL, have built a robotic bird that can complete the entire journey.The 8.8-ounce robot flies, plunges into water and swims below the surface.
Then it launches back into the air using the same set of flapping wings.NEW YORK SCHOOL DISTRICT TO DEPLOY HUMANOID ROBOT IN CLASSROOMS THIS FALLResearchers say the $300 robot marks the first bird-scale machine to complete an air-to-water-to-air cycle using flapping wings alone.(Raphael Zufferey)According to the research team, it marks the first bird-scale robot to complete that full cycle through flapping motion alone.
The research appeared in the journal Science.Free live CyberGuy class: Sick of Spam? Join us July 22Join us TODAY, Wednesday, July 22, at 1 PM ET for a free CyberGuy Live class that will help you cut down on robocalls, spam texts, junk email and other unwanted messages.Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson will walk you step by step through simple ways to filter spam, clean up your inbox and recognize the messages that could put your personal information at risk.
No technical experience is needed.You’ll also receive our spam-stopping checklist, and every registrant will get a link to the class recording afterward.Reserve your free spot today at CyberGuyLive.com.Most amphibious robots use separate systems for air and water.
This mechanical bird takes a simpler approach.The robot relies on flapping wings instead of propellers.
It also completes its water launch without legs or a complicated wing-folding mechanism.That design presents a major engineering problem.Water is about 800 times denser than air, ...