BionicFlyingFox is a flying robot with unique characteristics. Robot Bat Design Features of the Robot Bat

We recently talked about such a miracle of technology as a drone adapted to clear ice from the propellers of wind turbines that generate electricity. The machine with 36 propellers is capable of lifting up to 200 kg of cargo and performing complex work with the ease of an acrobat at high altitudes.

Here's how it happens:

But this aircraft has one serious flaw; turn off the electricity and it will fall like a stone. What to do to prevent this from happening? This question is answered by scientists, programmers and engineers who have built an artificial one that exactly replicates the shape and motor skills of a real bat.

Who else but nature knows how best to adapt to environment? Millions of years of evolution have not been in vain. Take for example the same bat. This chiropteran creature began to use radars to identify obstacles much earlier than Tesla; it sees perfectly in the dark, hundreds of times better than the most sophisticated modern cars, this was proven by the recent tragic incident that occurred with a Volvo car equipped with an autopilot from Uber. The car hit the man, but the bat did not.

These interesting creatures can also fly in confined spaces, maneuver quickly, and sleep upside down.

And why don't people try to copy what nature has already done? Everything is already ready.

From a technical point of view, for modern engineering there is nothing particularly difficult in the production of a bionic aircraft. Officially named "Bionic Flying Fox," the robot was built around a lightweight, virtually weightless frame, the frames are covered with a unique membrane for the wings with 40 thousand attachment points that make the artificial "skin" lightweight and strong at the same time. Batteries, a gear drive and electronic “brains” are inserted into the plastic body, which has an analogue of machine learning and is capable of issuing commands for semi-autonomous flight.

It's unlikely that this particular robot will ever see the light of day for commercial use, but it's at the moment. With just a few simple materials, it is possible to build a complex aircraft that successfully imitates the graceful movements of a living creature.

The ability of bats to fly in almost pitch darkness, performing complex maneuvers, has surprised and puzzled scientists for hundreds of years. Only relatively recently have experts figured out how a bat can navigate in space without the help of its visual organs. However, experts are amazed not only by the navigational abilities of these animals, but also by their flying skills.

The mouse flies quietly, quickly, and can almost instantly change direction of movement. If something like this could be created by man, it would give a lot to science and technology. Engineers and scientists have been studying the flight mechanics of these animals for a long time, trying to recreate the mechanism of mouse flight. Some people succeed.

Recently, scientists from Caltech presented their robot Bat Bot (B2), equipped with soft composite wings with membranes between the frame. Caltech's partners in the project were a team of specialists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). "This robot's design will help us build more efficient and safer drones, and it will also help us figure out how bats fly," said Soon-Jo Chung, one of the project's collaborators.

Chung, who joined the Caltech team, developed the robotic bat with his former research advisor Alireza Ramezani and Seth Hutchinson, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The robot weighs only 93 grams. Outwardly, it resembles a bat, in the image and likeness of which it was designed. The wingspan is only 30 centimeters. During flight, the system can change the shape of the wings by folding or unfolding the “fingers”, changing the shape and position of the wrists, legs and shoulders. Experts believe that the bat is one of the most (if not the most) complexly organized animals capable of flight. The wings of a bat can change shape, and the flight mechanism includes the use of several types of joints that can fix bones and muscles or, conversely, increase the amount of freedom of the bones that make up the wing.

The principle of flight of bats differs significantly from the principle of flight of birds. Main feature lies in the flexibility and pliability of the bat wing. The strong bending of the wing during its downstroke provides much greater lift and reduces energy costs when compared to birds. During flight, as the wing moves downward, an air vortex is formed at its leading edge, which, according to scientists, provides up to 40% of the wing's lift. The air flow starts at the leading edge of the wing, then goes around it and returns again during the upward movement of the wing. All this became possible due to the flexibility of the wing, since its bend allows the turbulence to be kept close to the surface of the wing.

In order for the robot to fly, the developers created a complex hardware and software system. Environmental data collected by the drone during flight is processed in real time. The control software receives this data and coordinates the drone’s operation. All this works autonomously, without operator participation

The musculoskeletal system of a bat's wings can perform more than 40 movements in different directions. “The result of our work is one of the most advanced robotic wing designs to date with the morphology of a bat, and this robot can fly autonomously,” said Ramezani. Of course, this robot is still quite far from a real bat, which can overtake an insect right in the air, fly around it, grab it and eat it. Such maneuverability is a matter of the future, albeit quite close.

Indeed, the robot’s wings can change shape in the same way as the owners of the “prototypes” do. Making a wing of this type is quite difficult; to do this, you need to have a good understanding of the anatomical features of the structure of the musculoskeletal system of bats. As an alternative material to leather, engineers have created a film with a thickness of only 56 microns, based on silicone. This material can stretch and contract almost as well as the skin that covers the wings of bats.

According to the developers, flying robotic bats could be much more energy efficient than regular ones. aircraft. Robots of this type can be used as an alternative to drones. Moreover, unlike most drones, artificial bats will be able to change flight direction faster. Plus, they will not be as dangerous for humans (in terms of the possibility of injury) as the same copters.

Several people are currently developing bio-inspired devices (robotic ants, butterflies, birds). large companies, these include the German company Festo, whose main field of activity is industrial automation.

The latest achievement of German engineers in this direction is the controlled robot BionicFlyingFox. Unlike other models, it repeats the body structure of the fruit bat - the largest subspecies of bats. According to the developers, the device belongs to the category of “ultra-light flying devices with intelligent kinematics,” which gives it previously unattainable capabilities.

What characteristics does a flying robot have?

Company representatives lifted the veil of secrecy by publishing the main parameters of the new product:

• wingspan - 228 cm;
• length – 87 cm;
• weight – 580 grams.

To make the bat so light, the wing membrane is made of thin woven fabric, which is covered on both sides with two layers of airtight film.

Design Features of the Robot Bat

In addition to the membrane material, it is worth paying attention to the wing itself: it consists of two interconnected planes. Each plane has its own motors and control loop. Driving force is the main DC motor. The main motor and auxiliary motors are supplied with energy using a built-in power supply, which gives the unit complete autonomy.

The control is implemented using a ground control station, which, through built-in cameras, is able to monitor the actions of the unit in the air. In order to simplify the operating process, the developers introduced a system of artificial intelligence and self-learning. This function allows you to improve the technique of performing aerial maneuvers. In the future, this technique will be brought to perfection, and robotic animals will no longer be inferior in their capabilities to living prototypes.