Is it a bird? No, but it looks like one

For years, scientists have been trying to make realistic remote-controlled birds. In flight, this one seems pretty convincing to us.

SmartBird has been developed by a German company called Festo. Their bird is based on a herring gull and can take-off, fly and land on its own, without any human controlling it.

What makes it look convincing in the air is that its wings move and twists like a real bird’s. It weighs just 450g and has a wingspan of 2m, and Festo say that it is the most efficient model bird built so far.

The birds could be useful in many areas, such as for carrying spy cameras or for monitoring bird populations. Festo also say that the work that has gone into SmartBird could be used in many more areas of engineering that they are involved in.

Watch the video below to see SmartBird in action for yourself.

 

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Transcript

Source: Festo

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