SmartBird

A a white robotic seagull labelled FESTO flies across a blue sky.
SmartBird is inspired by the herring gull. Photo: Festo

SmartBird is a robotic seagull that flies by flapping its wings and steers by twisting them at specific angles. It has an aerodynamic design inspired by biology, and you can fly it with a remote control.

Creator

Festo

Year
2011
Country
Germany 🇩🇪
Categories
Features
SmartBird flies like a bird. Video: Festo

More videos

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Overall Rating

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Appearance

Neutral

Did you know?

The design of SmartBird is based on the Herring gull.

A multiple exposure image shows the robotic gull's wings flapping.
How the wings move. Photo: Festo
A man in a suit prepares to throw the robotic seagull, by holding it over his head. The robot's torso alone is larger then his head. A large crowd is watching, but cordoned off.
Ready for takeoff. Photo: Festo

More Images

Aerial photo shows two people sitting at a desk with computers while the SmartBird flies overhead, indoors.
Flying the robot bird during a trial. Photo: Festo
Three men observe the robotic skeleton at a trade show.
SmartBird's skeleton is a lightweight carbon fiber structure. Photo: Festo

Specs

Overview

Bio-inspired, ultralight design. Has autonomous and teleoperation modes.

Status

Inactive

Year

2011

Website
Width
200 cm
Length
107 cm
Weight
0.45 kg
Speed
25 km/h
Sensors

Motor position Hall-effect sensors

Actuators

Graupner Compact 135 brushless DC motor. Two servos to control head and tail sections; two servos to control wing torsion.

Degrees of Freedom (DoF)
6
Materials

Carbon fiber and polyurethane foam.

Compute

Texas Instruments LM3S811 32-bit 50-MHz microcontroller. 868 MHz radio control module and 2.4 GHz two-way ZigBee module

Software

No OS. Custom software.

Power

7.4-V 450-mA lithium-polymer battery, 20 minutes of operation