This flying robot needs a hug
EPFL researchers drew inspiration from bats and owls to design a flying robot that crash lands with style. | Image: Nature
Instead of hunting for a runway, researchers have built an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can land by crashing into trees or poles and wrapping its grippy wings around them to prevent a fall. It’s an unorthodox approach but one that could make it easier to position surveillance or inspection equipment in hard-to-reach areas.
The UAV, which its designers from the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) have called the PercHug, is yet another robot built to emulate a behavior seen in nature: bats and owls using their wings to both fly and climb or perch onto trees.
The PercHug robot is designed with dual-purpose hinged wings that remain rigid and outstretched, allowing the UAV to fly, but…