Attempts At Roosting Less Than Successful, Though

A new, innovative, and very cool (and, somewhat ominous) "micro-air vehicle" recently made its first flight. The RoboSwift -- developed by aerospace engineering students at Delft University of Technology, in cooperation with the Experimental Zoology Group of Wageningen University, Netherlands -- took flight this week... and later attempted to imitate its feathered namesake, with less-than stellar results.

But first, some background. ANN reported on the RoboSwift in July 2007. The aircraft -- which sports a wingspan of about 19 inches, and weighs almost three ounces -- is intended to perform ground surveillance up to one hour, thanks to its lithium-polymer batteries that power the electromotor, which drives the propeller. The propeller folds back during gliding to minimize air drag.

The real news, however, lies in the craft's innovative morphing-wing design, which is derived from an actual swift. The wings can be swept back in flight by folding feathers over each other, thus changing the wing shape and reducing the wing surface area.

The students discovered that using only four feathers -- much less than the bird uses -- provides the wing with sufficient morphing capacity, and is what makes actual production of the design feasible. Steering a RoboSwift is done by asymmetrically morphing the wings. Sweeping one wing back further than the other creates a difference in lift on the wings that is used to roll and turn the micro plane in the air.

Students say future RoboSwifts will be equipped with observation cameras... that could be used in scientific applications (studying birds in flight) or surveillance ops (keeping track of groups of people, silently, from overhead.)

The prototype model flew for about five minutes last week, according to China's Xinhua news service. The flight went closely to plan, reaching an altitude of almost 2,000 feet in gusty conditions... until the end.

"It first flew through a tree and landed in another; it crashed," said David Lentink of Wageningen University.

The group of students expect better results at the upcoming American-Asian Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) Competition, an international contest scheduled for March 10-15 in India. The RoboSwift will compete against other designs from around the globe, reports Science Daily.

FMI: www.roboswift.nl, www.wageningenuniversiteit.nl/uk, www.tudelft.nl