Floaty flying robot updrafts, Digi Mart USA News: Researchers have developed Floaty, a flying robot designed to ride updrafts using moveable wings rather than relying on continuous power-hungry hovering like a quadcopter drone. The device was designed by a team at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and the University of Stuttgart, inspired by birds of prey such as the kestrel.
Floaty does not stay airborne by flapping its four wing flaps. Instead, after being placed manually in an updraft, it automatically adjusts those flaps to control how air flows around it.
This changes its air resistance, which stabilizes the robot and allows it to move vertically and horizontally within the air column, and even hold its position when pushed sideways by wind gusts.
An early flat version of the robot was prone to flipping over during vertical wind tunnel tests. The team addressed this by lowering its center of gravity and adding a bend to its previously rigid wing flaps.
According to the source, the robot now remains stable at wind tunnel air speeds of up to 10 meters (33 ft) per second.
Prof. Michael Mühlebach of the Max Planck Institute suggested Floaty could inspect factory smokestacks where strong upward airflow exists, potentially with little modification.
He said similar technology could help control rockets during re-entry or guide weather balloons. The research has been published in the journal npj Robotics.
