Researchers put bird legs on a drone so it can take off by jumping

Multimedia

7-12-2024, 21:48

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INA - SOURCES

Researchers from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL in Switzerland and UC Irvine have developed a drone capable of landing and taking off in areas that would otherwise leave a fixed-wing aircraft stranded.

Their Robotic Avian-inspired Vehicle for multiple Environments - RAVEN trades traditional landing gear for a pair of bird-inspired articulated legs that allow the drone to walk around, hop over obstacles, and even leap into the air to take flight without the need for a runway.

Quadcopter drones may offer more flexibility when it comes to where they can take off and land, but most rely on four motors which are less energy-efficient than fixed-wing drones that use a single motor paired with gliding for flight.

To expand the capabilities of fixed-wing drones, the researchers took inspiration from birds like crows and ravens which can easily maneuver on the ground using a scrawny pair of legs, as detailed in a paper published in Nature this week.