AirJelly’s environment is the air. Unlike AquaJelly, the remote-controlled jellyfish AirJelly does not swim through water, but instead glides instead through a sea of air thanks to its central electric drive unit and an intelligent, adaptive mechanism. It is able to do so because it consists of a helium-filled ballonett.

AirJelly‘s sole source of power is two lithium-ion polymer batteries connected to the central electric drive unit. It transmits the force to a bevel gear and from there to a succession of eight spur gears, which move the eight tentacles of the jellyfish via cranks. Each tentacle is designed as a structure with Fin Ray Effect^® . Propulsion of a ballonett by means of peristaltic motion is hitherto unknown in the history of aviation. AirJelly is the first indoor flight object with peristaltic drive. This new drive concept, with propulsion based on the principle of recoil, moves the jellyfish gently through the air.

Air Jelly PDF

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Dragonfly drone flutters about, blows minds !

With the BionicOpter, Festo has technically mastered the highly complex flight characteristics of the dragonfly. Just like its model in nature, this ultralight flying object can fly in all directions, hover in mid-air and glide without beating its wings.

Festo isn’t quite the household name that Boston Dynamics is. (And, really, we’re not entirely sure Big Dog is a regular topic of conversation at dinner tables yet.) But, it certainly deserves just as much attention for the work they’re doing with robotics. After crafting a machine last year that soared around like a herring gull, now the company has created BionicOpter. The 17.3-inch long dragonfly drone can flutter through the air in any direction, and even hover, just like its biological inspiration. Its four carbon fiber and foil wings beat up to 20 times per-second, propelling it through the air as if it were swimming rather than flying.

Actually piloting the robo-bug is achieved through a smartphone app, but an on-board ARM-based microcontroller makes small adjustments to ensure stability during flight. There are a few important pieces of information we don’t have just yet. For one, it’s not clear how long the two-cell lithium ion battery will last, and pricing or availability are missing from the brochure (at the source link). Chances are though, you’ll never be able to afford one any way. Thankfully you can at least see this marvel of engineering in action after the break.

A Natural model for Flight

With the BionicOpter, Festo has applied these highly complex characteristics to an ultra-lightweight flying object at a technical level. For the first time, there is a model that can master more flight conditions than a helicopter, plane and glider combined.

In addition to controlling the flapping frequency and the twisting of the individual wings, each of the four wings features an amplitude controller. This means that the direction of thrust and the intensity of thrust for all four wings can be adjusted individually, thus enabling the remote-controlled dragonfly to move in almost any orientation in space. The intelligent kinematics correct any vibrations during flight and ensure flight stability both indoors and outdoors.

Integration of Functions in the Smallest of Spaces

The unique flight behaviour is made possible by the lightweight design of the model dragonfly and the integration of its functions:
sensors, actuators and mechanical components as well as communication, open and closed-loop control systems are installed ina very small space and connected to one another.

Thirteen Degrees of Freedom for Unique Flight Manoeuvres

In addition to control of the shared flapping frequency and twisting of the individual wings, each of the four wings also features an amplitude controller. The tilt of the wings determines the direction of thrust. Amplitude control allows the intensity of the thrust to be regulated. When combined, the remote-controlled dragonfly can assume almost any position in space.

Highly Integrated lightweight Design

This unique way of flying is made possible by the lightweight construction and the integration of functions: components such as sensors, actuators and mechanical components as well as open- and closed-loop control systems are installed in a very tight space and adapted to one another.

With the remote-controlled dragonfly, Festo demonstrates wireless real-time communication, a continuous exchange of information, as well as the ability to combine different sensor evaluations and identify complex events and critical states.

Highly Complex System with Easy Operation
Despite its complexity, the highly integrated system can be operated easily and intuitively via a smartphone. The flapping frequency,amplitude and installation angle are controlled by software and electronics; the pilot just has to steer the dragonfly – there is no need to coordinate the complex motion sequences.

Videos

Links

Find out more …

http://www.festo.com/en/bionicopter

http://www.festo.com/cms/en_corp/13165.htm

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“Festo’s Flying Robot – SmartBird”
“An Incredible Flying Robot, Resembles a Real Bird”

Festo has added to its robotic menagerie with the creation of a robotic seagull that weighs just 450 g (15.87 oz) and boasts a wingspan of 1.96 m (6.4 ft). Dubbed the SmartBird, the ultralight flying robot was inspired by the herring gull and can take off, fly and land autonomously, without the help of any additional drive systems.

In creating the SmartBird, Festo says it has succeeded in deciphering the flight of birds. The robot’s wings not only beat up and down, with a lever mechanism increasing the degree of deflection to increase from the torso to the wing tip, but also twist at specific angles along their length in the same way that a real bird’s do so that the leading edge is directed upwards during the upward stroke.

Directional control is achieved through the opposing movement of the robot’s head and torso sections, which is synchronized by means of two electric motors and cables. This enables it to bend aerodynamically, with simultaneous weight displacement, and is responsible for the SmartBird’s agility and maneuverability.

As with a real bird, the SmartBird’s tail isn’t just for show either. It produces lift and functions as both a pitch elevator and yaw rudder. In addition to stabilizing the robot in a similar way to an aircraft’s conventional vertical stabilizer, the tail also tilts to initiate left and right turns and rotates about the longitudinal axis to produce yaw.

Packed inside the SmartBird’s torso are the battery, engine and transmission, the crank transmission and control and regulation electronics. Wing position and torsion can be monitored via two-way ZigBee protocol radio communication and can be adjusted and optimized in real time during flight.

Festo says developing the SmartBird has provided insights that will help it in a variety of areas. The robot’s minimal use of materials and lightweight construction will help increase efficiencies in resource and energy consumption, while the functional integration of its coupled drive units have provided ideas the company says it can transfer to the development of hybrid drive technology. Additionally, analysis of its flow characteristics during development has provided insights into ways to optimize future designs. Another plus is that it won’t try and steal your chips at the beach.

Videos

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Further Information: http://www.festo.com/en/exohand
CPX inside, further information here: http://www.10sek.de/festo/index_gb.html

Video:http://youtu.be/EcTL7Hig8h4

New scope for interaction  between humans and machines
The ExoHand from Festo is an exoskeleton that can be worn like a glove.

The fingers can be actively moved and their strength amplified; the operator’s hand movements are registered and transmitted to the robotic hand in real time. The objectives are to enhance the strength and endurance of the human hand, to extend humans’ scope of action and to secure them an independent lifestyle even at an advanced age.

From assembly to medical therapy
The ExoHand could provide assistance in the form of force amplification in connection with monotonous and strenuous activities in industrial assembly, for example, or in remote manipulation in hazardous environments: with force feedback, the human operator feels what the robot grasps and can thus grip and manipulate objects from a safe distance without having to touch them.

Due to the yielding capacity of its pneumatic components, the ExoHand also offers potential in the field of service robotics. In the rehabilitation of stroke patients, it could already be used today as an active manual orthosis.

A strong hand with sensitive fingers
The exoskeleton supports the human hand from the outside and reproduces the physiological degrees of freedom – the scope of movement resulting from the geometry of the joints.

Eight double-acting pneumatic actuators move the fingers so that they can be opened and closed. For this purpose, non-linear control algorithms are implemented on a CoDeSys-compliant controller, which thus allows precise orientation of the individual finger joints. The forces, angles and positions of the fingers are tracked by sensors.

Download ExoHand PDF

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Festo, a multinational robotics firm based in Germany, has made some of the most amazing biologically inspired robots out there. In one of our previous posts, “Festo’s Extraordinary Robots That Mimic Biology I”, you have seen air-penguins and mechanical elephant-arms but these are just few of Festo creations. In these videos, the air-ray, the bionic air-fish, the aqua-jelly, and more are shown. Festo is one of the world leaders in automation, with millions of parts installed in factories all over the globe. Their animal inspired robots are created by the efforts of their Bionic Learning Network. This collection of research groups from academia and industry is part advanced research initiative, part education organization.

Festo is a German industrial control and automation company based in Esslingen,Germany. Festo is an engineering driven company that sells pneumatic and electric actuators primarily to the automation industry.

Video: http://youtu.be/NNNfn7ac-rY

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Molecubes – an attractive programmable robotics system

Molecubes could play a significant role in technical training in the near future. These cubes, fitted with computer chips, can be successively attached to each other. Each Molecube communicates with all the other cubes; the energy supply and transmission of signals from one Molecube to the next are thereby ensured. Young people can use the Molecubes to build and program their own robots.

Video: http://youtu.be/wUJkX8fn1jY

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Download Smart Bird PDF 

SmartBird is an ultralight but powerful flight model with excellent aerodynamic qualities and extreme agility. With SmartBird, Festo has succeeded in deciphering the flight of birds – one of the oldest dreams of humankind.

This bionic technology-bearer, which is inspired by the herring gull, can start, fly and land autonomously – with no additional drive mechanism. Its wings not only beat up and down, but also twist at specific angles. This is made possible by an active articulated torsional drive unit, which in combination with a complex control system attains an unprecedented level of efficiency in flight operation. Festo has thus succeeded for the first time in creating an energy-efficient technical adaptation of this model from nature.

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