The Festo Smart Bird – A Miracle In Aviation
We’ve all seen Wile E Coyote trying to flap some ACME wings to take off from a cliff to catch the Road Runner and failing every single time. Well sadly, like the coyote, man has had the greatest trouble trying to design a machine that can fly like a bird. Until today, we have not had the materials or the scientific data to unravel the mystery of flight. And it’s not for a lack of trying. Many engineers and scientists have, over the years, tried to achieve this goal but have failed time and time again.
After many centuries of observing bird flight and analysing its motion and studying the anatomy of birds, man has enough data to replicate the way a bird flies. Researchers at Festo, a global leader in the fields of pneumatic and electrical automation technology, have developed a prototype that they’ve dubbed the Smart Bird. Watch the video below and see it take its first flight.
