Understanding nature and how it works is the main purpose of science. It is always trying to explain nature. Therefore, it is not surprising when scientists come up with models of living creatures in order to study them better or make use of them. We covered an article on Cyro; the man-made Jellyfish which will be, eventually, used to gather information and would work to maintain environment in the sea by recording toxic waste levels and oil levels etc.
Germans are already famous for their cars; boy oh boy, do they know how to make cars or what! But this article deals with another invention of the German scientists and engineers. There is a German company of Designers and Engineers known as Festo. The company isn’t new and has so far been able to manufacture robotic penguins, jellyfish and birds.
The company also respects the evolution of nature. Their recent invention is BionicOpter; a robotic dragonfly which is controlled by a remote control. The dragonfly which is prehistoric is a wonderful piece of equipment. Why? Because it is the only man-made device which can fly and is able to mimic an airplane, glider and a helicopter as far as maneuvering is concerned. Festo said; ‘The tilt of the wings determines the direction of thrust.Amplitude control allows the intensity of the thrust to be regulated. When combined, the remote-controlled dragonfly can assume almost any position in space. This unique way of flying is made possible by the lightweight construction and the integration of functions: components such as sensors, actuators and mechanical components as well as open- and closed-loop control systems are installed in a very tight space and adapted to one another. With the remote-controlled dragonfly, we have demonstrated wireless real-time communication, a continuous exchange of information, as well as the ability to combine different sensor evaluations and identify complex events and critical states.’ One may only speculate of the uses this gadget will be put to, however it does seem like the perfect spy and might very well be used to scout areas without getting noticed.
One thing’s for sure, we are definitely stepping it up as far as the robotics is concerned. This is the future ladies and gentlemen; the era of robotics and science. BionicOpter aren’t really the first robotic mimics of nature’s creations but they do prove that scientists can create robots which are able to mimic natural movements perfectly. This opens up a whole new chapter for robotics.
