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Flapping NAV Performs Controlled Hovering Flight
An anonymous reader writes "AeroVironment, Inc. was awarded a Phase II contract extension in April from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to design and build a flying prototype for the Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) program. As part of this program AV has accomplished a technical milestone never before achieved: the controlled hovering flight of an air vehicle system with two flapping wings (video) that carries its own energy source and uses only the flapping wings for propulsion and control. Two wings for propulsion and control, nothing else."
...their website is being served off of the flapping bird robot, and said robot has crashed.
They can make flapping wing flying robots, but can't make a slashdot proof webserver, meh.
Authority questions you. Return the favor.
here's a link to another article which atleast has a computer generated image
-- It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. -- Aristotle
Shouldn't this sort of thing be called an Ornithopter?
Drill baby drill - on Mars
Here is an AeroVironment NAV video on YouTube. Not sure if it's the same one, but it was uploaded today...
Dear engineering community, that's all I've ever wanted from you in life, please make it happen.
This just in, Prototype lost to clock with bacteria digester system.
PETA responded with applause.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
it was pretty cool.
There will be hummingbird looking things flying in and out of your nearest neighborhood crime syndicate office monitoring their activities.
Who needs wiretapping now?
Oh, and I think hummingbirds have prior art.
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
Well, if everyone in slashdot was like me, we all wanted to see if it flaps like a vulture or like a hummingbird before posting...
European vulture, or African?
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
To any familiar with this company or this line of research in general:
What are the advantages of the ornithopter design over a traditional helicopter design? Why is DARPA interested?
Yes, I did read the article... and I understand what DARPA is interested in getting out of a small UAV that can hover. What I don't understand is why a normal helicopter design couldn't suit all of these needs better and cheaper.
Regardless of the answer, it's a very cool project. Obviously very worthwhile just from the point-of-view of the scientific and engineering advances.
This is almost as good as WowWee's Bat and Dragon. They're little, they fly with moving wings, and they can hover. $39.99. Available wherever toys are sold. That's the entry-level product; the next step up, the Green Dragonfly, is an indoor/outdoor R/C ornithopter capable of hovering.
Those models doesn't have any onboard intelligence, but some of the other WowWee flying machines have collision avoidance. WowWee has a whole line of flying and robotic toys, and they deliver impressive technology at prices well under $100. Maybe DARPA should outsource.