First Bird-Scale Robot to Swim, Dive, and Launch Back Into Flight

New robot can swim underwater before flying through the air like a bird

The flapping-wing aerial-aquatic (FAAV) has been created by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

First bird-scale robot to swim, dive, and launch back into flight

A robot that swims like a diving bird and then flies like, well, a bird, sounds like the setup for two different machines bolted together. But researchers at MIT and EPFL built one that does both with a single set of wings. No propellers, no legs, and no origami-style folding mechanism to switch modes.Continue ReadingCategory: Robotics, EngineeringTags: MIT, Robots, Engineering, Birds, EPFL, Biomimicry, Flight, Dive, Swim

MIT Engineers Unleash New ‘Aerial-Aquatic’ Robot That Can Swim Underwater and Fly Like a Bird

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Bird-inspired robot swims, plunges, and flies using flapping wings

A lightweight robot modeled on diving birds can swim underwater, break through the surface, and continue flying without using feet or propellers. The feat exposes a difficult mechanical compromise between movement in dense water and thin air. Engineers at MIT and EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, built the flapping-wing aerial-aquatic vehicle, or FAAV, to explore how animals such as puffins, petrels, gulls, and loons move through both environments.…