Robot bird takes flight

Robot bird takes flight

www.boingboing.net

SmartBird is modelled on the herring gull and can take off, fly and land while its flight is controlled remotely from the ground in real time.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is simply amazing. The fact that from afar, this looks like a real bird.

Also on the amazing list is that this technology can also be used for harnessing energy from waves in the ocean...

Yes this takes UAVs to a whole new level, that level is camouflage. One thing we don't see is this bird land... So it's possible that is the proverbial achilles heel of its camouflage.


www.boingboing.net
(visit the link for the full news article)

This will open a new era of surveillance.

The military and the DoD are going to LOVE this.

Very cool engineering feat!

Thanks for bringing it here.

Wow! It looks startlingly realistic in its flight. Any word on the battery? Beyond the effectiveness of drones, the only realistic military application I can see is the bird's ability to fly silently - something drones obviously cannot do but would give surveillance agencies a huge advantage in spying.

Reminds me of Bubo

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c30c49a5b97e.jpg[/atsimg]

Wow certainly flys with alot more grace than I was expecting, and they have the physics of it all bang on.

reply to post by HunkaHunka


This is SO kewl! With technology like this we can learn how to fly individually and leave cars in the to collect dust!

reply to post by HunkaHunka


I imagine a little kid throwing stones at it after it had been modified by the Army, Military, or the DoD. They could use this in Libya instead of 1 million dollar planes. Instead of defecating on cars they can drop micro bombs on cities!

Originally posted by Maxmars
This will open a new era of surveillance.

The military and the DoD are going to LOVE this.

Very cool engineering feat!

Thanks for bringing it here.

Max, there is a surveillance system that i was ever so gently involved with ( tank ideas ) for commercial use only and is used within large sq coverage that incorporates such devices instead of cameras. Flight times are 15-25 min depending on apparatus, they self dock, re-charge and re launch on predefined locations once the buildings were digitized. Oh sh*t, my geek side is coming out again.

just for fun
www.defense-update.com...

But yes..definitely a toy to play with. One wonders, why noone has spotted the drones over Libya yet.. leaves me scratching my head...oops was i not allowed to say this in a public forum ?

Wow! that is totally awsme! Now im gonna worry evertime im outside if big bro is watching me. but its cool none the less. supe it up a bit to drop a grenade and youd have a toy every military man would want.

Absolutely amazing. I mean just look at its movements!
It is truly amazing what people and technology can actually do together.

Still, I cannot keep back my usual Cynism and stop myself from thinking that the artificial Bird have come just in time, these days of Mass die-offs of fishes, birds and other animals. Atleast we will now be guaranteed to be able to see mechanical tweetiebirds flap around in the skies even in the future, for the sake of nostalgia over what once was, if the originals dies out completely.

This is just so cool, how much money did it take to make this? Cause if they are going to use this as spying tech all the enemy has to do is shoot it and we might never see it come back.

Weaponized birds and insects at the link - granted what the OP brings to our attention is by far the most realistic application of a bird in flight.

Check out the hummingbird pic: www.thedenverchannel.com...

Note in the very beginning and end of the video you can hear that the hummingbird sounds mechanical, but it looks good in flight.

Can I buy one?
Are they even affordable?
Didn't think so, nothing to see here folks, move along, move along...

Wow very cool technology. If they paint the bird with feathers it would be very difficult to tell it from a real bird until it landed. if they use it militarily once it becomes known on the battle field any bird flying near will be at risk of being shot just in case

Originally posted by hawkiye
Wow very cool technology. If they paint the bird with feathers it would be very difficult to tell it from a real bird until it landed. if they use it militarily once it becomes known on the battle field any bird flying near will be at risk of being shot just in case

.....and as such, emp's are to enter the battlefield similar to how networked intrusions on a covert level are currently at.

credit due here..a thread posted way back

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by Mathoryn
Reminds me of Bubo

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c30c49a5b97e.jpg[/atsimg]

edit on 29-3-2011 by Mathoryn because: Picture was too LargE

I thought the exact same thing!

reply to post by HunkaHunka


Why is it filmed only in slow motion?.. is it because in regular speed it looks odd and very unbird like?

Considering birds dont actually fly like that, their wings go much further down and far higher on the up stroke. Id say if I saw it flying around id be capable of recognizing it as a fake very quickly.

Not pooping on the tech since it is pretty good, but it only resembles a bird thanks to mildly flapping wings and body shape, now if they could replicate a real birds wing motion (ie the whole figure 8) and movement such as mid air breaking and hovering then id be really impressed.

This really isnt more then a higher tech version of the old paper winged wind up birds you could buy back in the 70-80's even the wing motion is more or less identical. this one only has actual control and much longer air time really...

reply to post by HunkaHunka


Good Find S & F.

I always keep several bird feeders full in my yard. Now I guess I'll have to pay closer attention to look for birds that aren't eating to see if I'm under surveillance.

Beautiful. They're making great progress. In 5, 10, 15 years this stuff is going to look indistinguishable from the real thing..... at least while it's flying above our heads. The military can be blamed for a lot of destruction, but if it wasn't for their funding of things like these, I'm sure we'd have little motivation to come up with them. Is it worth it? I can't say that millions of lives lost is worth the technology,.... but I do marvel at it at times.
P.S. I wonder if they'll add a soundtrack to these "animals" to make them blend in better.