While autonomous flying robots have some interesting potential applications, their usefulness is limited if they cannot move over uneven terrain after landing. However, a new bio-inspired experimental robot can do just that by mimicking the gait of a crow.
The device is named RAVEN (Robotic Avian-inspired Vehicle for multiple ENvironments) and was developed by Won Dong Shin and colleagues at EPFL University in Switzerland. Although it looks like a folding-wing robot, it actually flies with a combination of two semi-fixed wings and a propeller.
However, RAVEN’s real selling point is its multi-jointed legs.
While they don't have the complex anatomy of real crow legs, they do mimic the articulated hips, ankles, and feet of real crow legs. This arrangement enables the robot to walk (alternatingly putting one foot in front of the other), jump over gaps or small obstacles, and jump onto raised surfaces.
Like a real crow, the robot can jump and take off when it starts flying. Tests have shown that increasing takeoff speed in this way is much more energy efficient than taking off without a jump.
"Through autonomous takeoff and multi-mode gait, multifunctional robotic legs expand the opportunities for deploying traditional fixed-wing aircraft in complex terrain," the scientists noted in a recent research paper published in Nature.
You can see RAVEN walking, jumping and flying in the video below.