The USA has developed a new "bird-like" UAV landing system

In the United States, a new quadrocopter has been developed, capable of "landing" on branches and wires "like a bird." For this, the drone was equipped not with a chassis, but with a mechanical landing system similar to a bird's paws.

A new quadcopter called SNAG (Stereotyped Nature-inspired Aerial Grasper) was developed by specialists from Stanford University based on bird observation, or rather, their landing. The landing gear developed from these observations is a fairly accurate imitation of the paws and claws of birds with a semblance of tendons and muscles. Tendons have replaced wires, and muscles have been special engines. Upon landing, the design absorbs impact and causes the claws to compress. After that, a command is given to stop all engines and the balancing system is turned on, allowing drone stabilize and not tip forward.

The birds use the same algorithm when they land, no matter what surface they land on, the university explained. The decoding of this algorithm helped to create new "chassis" in the form of bird paws for drone. Moreover, it is stated that this landing system can become universal and be used on other UAVs.

In addition to the landing process itself, a quadrocopter equipped with "bird paws" is able to catch objects in the air and carry them, clamping them in "claws". Tests in the forest showed that a drone, like a bird, does not matter where to land. Regardless of the thickness of the branch, its irregularities, moisture, etc. claws fixed the UAV on the surface. Tests were also carried out with throwing objects that the drone picked up in the air and successfully held them.

It is assumed that drones equipped with such a landing system can be used in rescue operations, especially in areas where there are problems with landing. However, if the usefulness of this invention is proven, it will be used, especially since this system can be installed on other drones.

Comments

[Andrey Moskvin]

Big "Hunter" has big paws. Tyrit Bayraktars.

[alex neym_2]

Agree! And you can't think of a more beautiful hunt for "language" - for the collar and for interrogation ... (humor).

[mitroha]

But seriously, what is the point of such a sharp increase in complexity and cost?

[Jcvai]

funding / grants?

In principle, if you then hook the grip system and gyroscopes onto the glider, something worthwhile may well come out. All the same, planners in terms of autonomy are more efficient than conventional helicopter ones.
As an option - delivery of drones to the theater of operations and subsequent collection by aviation without landing.

[mitroha]

Quote: JcVai

funding / grants?

Maybe...

Quote: JcVai

All the same, planners in terms of autonomy are more efficient than conventional helicopter ones.

While more like trying to pull on an owl .. Bird landing is not really planning, and planning requires a large wing area, if my memory serves me, and this increased visibility, coupled with the complexity of the design, leads to use in very specific places and tasks ... KMK

[Jcvai]

By imperceptibility - stealth for some reason everyone prefers to do in the plane.
So the planner will gain in stealth and speed in addition to autonomy. And in the case of air delivery - bird landing is just the right thing - to hook on the external sling of a flying aircraft to return to the base after completing tasks / working off resources.

Several years ago I watched the performance characteristics of a glider with variable geometry (folding wings with solar panels) - an energy-intensive battery is installed and the product is almost "eternal".

Oh, exactly, I understood the need for a drone to land on branches: a transformer is placed with its paws on one high-voltage cable, a telescopic connector on the other - a drone "with a perpetual motion machine" - free recharging from power lines (high-voltage like without shielding) :)

[tikhonov66]

"... But seriously, what is the point of such a sharp increase in complexity and cost?
..."
- this is very serious...
0) Drones become useful NOT ONLY IN FLIGHT !!!, where the battery is discharged extremely quickly - iba ...
1) GREAT disguise after planting on tree branches, wires, walls, windowsills
2) PERFECT visibility after landing in the same place
3) Excellent position for REPEATED takeoff
4) Excellent perspective for "anti-drone" hunters (teak kite, hawk and other birds of prey)

[mitroha]

Quote: tikhonov66

1) GREAT disguise after planting on tree branches, wires, walls, windowsills
2) PERFECT visibility after landing in the same place
3) Excellent position for REPEATED takeoff
4) Excellent perspective for "anti-drone" hunters (teak kite, hawk and other birds of prey)

I was talking about this when I wrote about "pulling an owl"))
The thermal signature does not attract birds, the camouflage is so-so because after "applying" this camouflage there is little left for the payload.
To take off again ....
The prospect is excellent in the opposite sense, birds of prey will be much more understandable to hunt familiar birds.

[tikhonov66]

"... The heat signature does not attract birds in any way,
..."
-?!
Thermal signature - ANY - at the request / at the expense of the customer.
Especially after planting and fixing the "claws".

[mitroha]

Quote: tikhonov66

"... The heat signature does not attract birds in any way,
..."
-?!
Thermal signature - ANY - at the request / at the expense of the customer.
Especially after planting and fixing the "claws".

Let me tell you a secret - birds do not heat up pointwise, but processors and motors heat up. There will be no complete similarity

[Nikolaevich I]

Quote: Andrey Moskvin

Big "Hunter" - big paws

Let's transform a big UAV into a big "pterodactyl"!

[knn54]

Where, especially today, without bionics.

[Hypertension]

Quote: knn54

Where, especially today, without bionics.

[Galleon]

Very interesting, thanks. However, this successful project for some reason makes its way to a joke. A robot has been created that can speak and express emotions - that's all. Yes, you can rent it. Some kind of robotic political officer.

[grandfather_Kostya]

I can't wait for the carrier-based fighters to learn to "land on a twig." Poor fellows are tormented with an aerofinisher.

[aslan balaev]

Quote: grandfather_Kostya

I can't wait for the carrier-based fighters to learn to "land on a twig." Poor fellows are tormented with an aerofinisher.

It will be more interesting to watch the landing of Globmaster with such a platform.

[Nikolaevich I]

Quote: grandfather_Kostya

I can't wait for the carrier-based fighters to learn to "land on a twig." Poor fellows are tormented with an aerofinisher.

"Eagle" does not sit on a "twig"!

[Fisherman]

Prepare for war in the taiga (where there are many trees and it is easier to hide in the branches, waiting for enemy soldiers) and cities (where there are many wires)!

[grandfather_Kostya]

Here, rather, you need to remember the falconry - the drone takes off and sits "on the arm" (as an option, a special ledge on a combat vehicle).

[rocket757]

In the United States, a new quadrocopter has been developed, capable of "landing" on branches and wires "like a bird." For this, the drone was equipped not with a chassis, but with a mechanical landing system similar to a bird's paws.

Nice, effective ... in some special cases, it will be in demand.

[mitrich]

Soon drones will fly from birds indistinguishable. And the animals are the same to run

[Dmitry_7]

Say what you like, but the Stanford boys have assembled a very interesting "car"! Handsome men!

[Prisoner]

Inspired. There will be something squeezing in the paws and obviously not a bouquet of carnations.

[Pavel57]

Not the starlings arrived, but the UAV.

[Cyop_TyMyc]

Let's say a dozen of these "birds" are sitting on a tall tree and waiting for the militants. When the group approaches, they take off and attack them with built-in submachine guns.

Brilliant !!!))

[Jcvai]

Technological Bashirov and Petrov

[askort154]

They tried to create flies, but too early. Today's technologies
allow us to return to this topic again. Perhaps they are already doing this somewhere. Type - UAV "bird".

[kytx]

They are doing their best. It even flies. The problem is, as always, in the normal energy source

[tikhonov66]

With sufficiently large dimensions - the "flapping wing" in terms of aerodynamic efficiency - outright loses to the "properler" ...
- nature - you can't omnit it ...
Figuratively speaking - at large sizes the air becomes "too liquid",
so that the plane effectively "clung" to it at a reasonable speed of the reciprocating motion.
- Once upon a time there was such a man - they called Reynolds ...
8-))

A waving mosquito, a fly - yes, it's really COOL, a waving butterfly - well ... also class, albeit worse. A waving mouse or a bird - yes, it flies, but the energy consumption - becomes critically high, all sorts of kites, vultures, eagles, albatrosses - this is basically a PLANNING flight ... losses are growing rapidly. Both inertial and air friction.
- so that something "flapping" with a wingspan of the order of meters is, although still theoretically - and possible - but already catastrophically energetically unprofitable, not to mention the reliability of mechanics ... And about tens of meters is just UTOPIA. Even theoretically.
- and this is a match ...

[hagen]

Quote: askort154

Perhaps they are already doing this somewhere.

They work precisely on artificial tissues that contract under the influence of an electrical impulse. I read about it ten years ago. Described research on this topic by Ray Bogman of Texas. I haven’t heard about our movements in this direction, but we are unlikely to ignore this. Imagine an underwater vehicle that completely imitates the movement of a fish, and is analogous to it in noise ... Artificial muscle fibers have limitless application prospects. This is a fantasy that will soon become a reality, or maybe it has already become ...

[kytx]

"Tendons have replaced wires, and muscles have been replaced by special motors."

Wires cannot replace tendons in any way, but nerves can.
Feel the difference

[Rash]

Right! And then the tendons are the traction.

[tikhonov66]

"... Wires can't replace tendons in any way ..."
- wires - can't replace tendons? - Yes, easily!
I saw myself how the clothes were not hung on a rope to dry,
but on a stretched wire.
8-))
- another thing is that heavy, not flexible enough,
prone to fatigue from alternating deformations ...
- therefore, in principle, they can replace ...
But, of course, it is "for replacing the tendons" - you can find more permeable materials than trivial "wires". They, nevertheless, were optimized according to completely different criteria.

[Alexander X]

Such pseudo-birds sit on tree branches around the protected object. Other people's drones are arriving. And these take off and catch strangers with their paws. And they carry it to the nest ...

[kytx]

All jokes aside, there is such a thing in development. Well, not to intercept the drones, but to raise the object from the ground.

[Jcvai]

On any vertical takeoff, a standard grip is placed.
It has been invented and used for a long time.

[kytx]

There are paws like kites

[tikhonov66]

"... Joking aside, there is such a thing in development. Well, not to intercept drones, but to raise an object from the ground.
..."
- I've even seen such "developed" ones!
A "trash car" came to our yard for "bulky garbage"
- such, designed-developed - with a GRAPPLE grip ...
- coolly she "captured from the ground" ...
8-))

[tikhonov66]

"... And these fly up and catch strangers with their paws. And they carry them into the nest
..."
- and in the nest - they disassemble the prey into (spare) parts and from this "constructor"
collect their own kind "chicks"
8-)))
8-))

[kytx]

But it's not funny.
Filled in a new "firmware" and go ahead
It is not necessary to disassemble it into parts.
Welcome to the new world :)

[Dikson]

It's just that the batteries will sit down faster .. the flight time will be reduced .. I had several cases when the quadrocopter, in fact, flopped on the belly - the batteries eventually lose capacity and the place of the prescribed 30 minutes of flight, which you expect, at 23 minutes the battery is simply disastrous it suddenly loses its charge .. - you may not have time to return to the base, or even just reach the coast ..) and here - extra motors, extra weight, extra energy consumption .. for what?

[askort154]

I have a dacha on the shore of a lake, behind which there is a forest. Many birds fly. I love to watch them. Particularly impressive is the hover of the kites on the ascending air currents. A couple of wing flaps, and a long soaring.
And so the whole flight, in circles. The thought always comes, is not it time to embody this technology in modern "hardware". Moreover, in the last century, air-gliding sport was developed, today it has gone into oblivion. It's a pity.

[tikhonov66]

"...
at 23 minutes, the battery just catastrophically loses its charge ..
..."
- the battery "loses its charge" for all "23 minutes" ...
And on the 23rd minute of a worn-out battery - "internal resistance increases",
as a result of which the voltage drop across it (internal resistance) - "takes away" this is the voltage from the battery load ... VOLTAGE on the load - the load behavior falls well - you have described everything correctly.
In the event of a load in the vadracopter, the load following the voltage on it also drops ...
8-))

[Artem76]

It is not entirely clear why this is, but it is interesting - this is a fact ... And the application, perhaps, will come in handy somewhere ...

[tikhonov66]

"...
And the application, perhaps, will come in handy somewhere ...
..."
- gold words !
Well this is just unlimited faith in the human mind!
Optimism just gushes over the edge - keep it up.
8-))

[Artem76]

Agas, I trudge myself ... Yes, okay, the guys are having fun, at their own expense, let them play ...

[Kushka]

Who can post the video, how the swan plans,
brakes with his paws and "lands" on the water - he
voiced by "negotiations" and the sounds of a sitting down
airbus. I'm crazy about him.

[gregor6549]

Well done Stanford. We have created a very interesting bird with very interesting application prospects. So smart and creative people are found among the "stupid" Americans (no offense to the late Zadornov, be it said)

[kebzuref]

Judging by the video, it is still very gray, and what is the point of being in such a device, I can bring you one example, if this drone is used as tracking some object and you need to save the battery so that you can follow it for a longer time then sit on a branch with a good view this is a great opportunity to save energy, at this moment motors with blades do not work for flight, which eats a lot of energy, it is quite a useful thing if they are brought to mind

[Borisych]

Better still, in Afghan. So that immediately to the airplane and home.

[Reserve buildbat]

Once in my childhood I read the article "Why Birds Do Not Fall from Branches in a Dream" - it beautifully explained that the tendons in the legs of birds are always stretched so that the claws are twisted and therefore the bird needs to make efforts to extend the fingers much more than to bend ... What prevents you from doing the same on the paws of drones? uncomplicated, clean mechanics and inexpensive