Photo credit: EPFL/Alain Herzog
Researchers from Switzerland’s EPFL university, led by Won Dong Shin, have developed an innovative bird robot with specialized legs that help it jump into flight. It’s called RAVEN (Robotic Avian-inspired Vehicle for multiple ENvironments) and named as such due to its articulated hips, ankles as well as feet that mimic real raven legs.
Not only does this configuration help RAVEN walk, hop over gaps or small obstacles, and hop up onto raised surfaces, but also helps it jump into takeoff when starting a flight. The researchers discovered that jumping into flight boosted takeoff speed and was considerably more energy-efficient than taking off without a jump.
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Our analysis suggests an important trade-off in mass distribution between legs and body among birds adapted for different locomotor strategies, with greater investment in leg mass among terrestrial birds with multimodal gait demands. Multifunctional robot legs expand the opportunities to deploy traditional fixed-wing aircraft in complex terrains through autonomous take-offs and multimodal gaits,” said the researchers.
[Source]
