Bionic Wings: These drones fly like birds!

They are small, light and extremely maneuverable and could be the future of drones, flapping wing micro air vehicles. They are built based on models found in nature such as birds and insects. These bionic drones can even fly in swarms without human assistance perfecting their flight behavior using AI. In this video you will learn what these flapping wing micro air vehicles are all about, which prototypes have been built so far and what they could be used for. And with that, welcome to the German Science Guy, I'm Dr. Jakob Boutang and in Germany we say los geht's. The principle of observing things in nature and transferring them to technology is very old. Leonardo da Vinci studied how the shape of bird wings changes during flight. He then wanted to apply this to technology. Galileo Galilei compared the mechanical structure of trees and buildings. He wanted to find out how high we could build. In doing so, da Vinci and Galilei laid the foundation for an extremely important science, bionics. This is a science that copies processes or designs from nature and transfers them to technology. One example is the lotus effect, which was copied from lotus leaves in nature. Water simply rolls off them, taking dirt particles with it. This was then applied to paints and surfaces in the 1980s. Another example is the reduction of friction in aircrafts. To achieve this, the surface of the aircraft was designed based on the model of shark scales. Research into these bionic drones has been ongoing for several years now. These flapping wing micro air vehicles fly in the same way as birds or insects, for example. But before we take a closer look at the drones, we need to briefly examine how birds fly in the first place. So how do birds fly? Bird wings are actually similar in the shape of the wings of an airplane, or vice versa. After all, birds existed several million years before airplanes. In any case, the shape of the wings is one of the reasons why birds and airplanes can fly. This can be explained by the Bernoulli effect. The wings are curved on the top and rather flat at the bottom. This means that the air has to flow faster around the top of the wing than around the bottom. This then creates lower pressure above the wing, which generates a lift. Birds flap their wings along an elliptical path, namely from the top rear to the bottom front. When they beat their wings, the wings are tilted downwards, and when they beat upwards, they are tilted upwards. The wing beat then creates an airflow around the wings. When the wing changes the position, this airflow can always act in such a way that lift is created. When the wings beat downwards, the air is also pushed backwards. This allows the birds to fly forward. And by the way, here's a little fun fact. When birds want to fly in one spot, they flap their wings in a zero or H-shaped pattern. Of course, the physics are somewhat simplified here, but it's enough to get a basic understanding of the principle. But why should we even bother with such a complex flying technique? Imagine our airplanes flapping their wings. So the answer why we still try to copy the movement of the bird is actually very simple. Efficiency. Birds can fly extremely efficiently, so without consuming much energy. According to a study, birds have an efficiency of 19-22% when flying. Of course, this also depends on the speed. Nevertheless, this is extremely good. By comparison, efficient drones have an efficiency of around 12.9%. But of course, this also depends on many factors such as the battery, the motor, and the propeller. So it quickly becomes clear why it might be worthwhile to build drones modeled on birds. And that's why there's a lot going on in the field of bionic drones. For example, the company Avironment from the US has developed a drone Hummingbird. It was even unveiled back in 2011 already. This drone can fly sideways, forwards, backwards, and hover in space. According to the company, it can also turn clockwise and counterclockwise. And it does all this using only its two wings. According to the company, the Nano Hummingbird can also fly between 0.5 and 10 meters per second. It is also said to be able to withstand wind gusts of up to 2.5 meters per second. And another special feature, the Nano Hummingbird is designed to fly inside buildings and film it. According to Avironment, the drone is intended for indoor and outdoor use. However, video production has been difficult so far because the drone moves too much and the image is too shaky. But this is nothing AI couldn't fix right now, right? So fix it with AI like we're trying to fix everything with AI at the moment. However, a lot has happened in this field of bionic drones in the last few years. The company Pesto from Germany, close to where I live for example, has developed a number of drones modeled on a variety of animals. One example is an artificial flying fox, a bionic flying fox. This flying fox drone has a wingspan of 2.28 meters and a body length of 87 centimeters. The drone weighs just 580 grams. For comparison, a golden eagle is similar in size but weighs at least 5 times as much. So the drone is extremely light. The wings of the drone are similar in the design of those of a flying fox. They consist of a thin membrane stretched from the arms and hands to the feet. This membrane is then curved with the help of the fingers and this allows the flying fox or drone to fly aerodynamically. This membrane consists of two airtight films and an elastic fabric. These are simply welded together at 45,000 points and they are extremely elastic. This makes the flying membrane almost wrinkle-free. This flying membrane has a kind of honeycomb structure so even cracks cannot grow larger. This means that the flying fox can still fly even if the membrane is slightly damaged. But what is really remarkable about the bionic flying fox is its flight behavior. It can move independently in a specific airspace. It only needs to be launched manually. A motion detection system then ensures autonomous flight. Infrared cameras are installed on the ground for this purpose which can determine the exact position. The data is transmitted to a computer that coordinates the flight. In fact, the flying fox can even optimize its wing movement itself. It calculates the movement and optimizes its flight behavior every time it flies a specific course. This allows it to maintain its course better with each lap it flies. The only thing that tops the flying bat drone is the bionic swift. This is a drone modeled on a swallow. The wings consist of ultralight and stable form slats that align themselves differently depending on the flight pace. This allows the drone to fly tight turns and loops. The tail serves as an elevator. But the really amazing thing is that thanks to indoor GPS up to five of these drones can fly in a swarm. Radio modules are distributed throughout the room for this purpose. The bird drones then have radio markers that send signals to these radio modules. This allows their position to be determined precisely. The data is then sent back to a central computer which serves as a navigation system so to speak. The drones can even correct their flight path independently for example when wind or thermal conditions change. But flying foxes and birds are not the only animals that scientists use as an inspiration when building drones. The bionic copter was modeled after a dragonfly. It can be controlled with a smart drone and fly in all directions. It can also hover in place and glide without flapping its wings. According to the developers the bionic copter can perform more flight maneuvers than an airplane, a helicopter and a glider combined. That sounds pretty impressive. But all these drones are just a handful of examples of such flapping wing micro air vehicles. There are many more prototypes and projects based on all kinds of animals. But why is Pestor and other companies doing this? Actually we did an interview with them and the company said that their drones will definitely not be used for military purpose which is interesting. Actually they even say that they are way more interested in understanding the biology and the physics. But what can these drones then actually be used for? For one thing they are extremely efficient and very maneuverable. Flapping wing micro air vehicles are more energy efficient than other flying objects of the same size. They can also be used in a wide range of speeds. This naturally makes them interesting for military use and regarding that times are changing right now we have to see if they might be used for example for communication or to disrupt electronic equipment in the military. They could also be used for reconnaissance flights. So on the one hand for military purposes but also for environmental monitoring or to locate forest fires and accidents. According to Pestor such drones can also be used in industry. For example to transport materials and goods or to optimize the flow of goods. Personally I also find this use in research very interesting. For example as animatronics. So animal replicas to study animal behavior. The first models of such animatronics have already been used with monkeys for example. So these are not drones but a kind of a robo monkey. But even though a lot is already happening in the development of these bionic drones there are still a few points we have to talk about in the big hurdle of this video for those who regularly watch my videos you know this is a part of my videos where we look at the critical points and hurdles of new innovations. Before that if you haven't subscribed yet please do it now if you like innovative tech and science that way you won't miss any more videos on the channel and also support this channel. So let's get to the big hurdle of this video and actually this one is rather small. Just looking at how many different types of drones there are already it is clear that a lot is happening in this area and that there is a lot of hope placed in this technology. However there is still one problem. According to a study the flapping of the drone's wings causes vibrations. These vibrations can lead to damage to the material. According to this study there is currently no method or theory how to reduce these vibrations. The question is therefore how durable these drones are. Unfortunately I was also unable to find out how much these drones would cost. Of course many of these drones are still prototypes but I still thought it was important to at least mention this and probably this is also because many of these drones are not made for the consumer market and will be produced for specific uses so they also have specific prices. And one of these uses could also be in the military field. I mean we have to be honest this is a very current topic right now. I personally struggle with drones in military because of a simple reason. We can see right now how the use of drones specifically makes it very inexpensive and also very abstract to take a human's life. I know this is war and I also understand that we also have to protect ourselves so you can't just ignore such a technology because other people will use this technology but there's this big ethical part in the topic that I at least wanted to address here. And actually by the way Sebastian from Festo also said something very important about this topic. Okay so we see but in the end I have to say I'm a big fan of bionic drones. On the one hand because I find the technology fascinating and at the same time because I find the positive areas of applications exciting especially when it comes to fighting forest fires but also transporting vital medicines or other stuff. But what do you think about this? Write your opinion on this technology in the comments. I'm very curious to read about your opinion and if you want so here is another video from this new channel so please check it out and in Germany we say Auf Wiedersehen which means goodbye. Your Jakob.