Close Menu
NERDBOT
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    Subscribe
    NERDBOT
    • News
      • Reviews
    • Movies & TV
    • Comics
    • Gaming
    • Collectibles
    • Science & Tech
    • Culture
    • Nerd Voices
    • About Us
      • Join the Team at Nerdbot
    NERDBOT
    Home»Technology»Have You Seen Festo, the Bionic SmartBird?
    SmartBird at Beijing 2019
    Technology

    Have You Seen Festo, the Bionic SmartBird?

    Heath AndrewsBy Heath AndrewsJuly 10, 20223 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

    Robots. They’re our friends, helpers, rulers of our future, and instruments of our demise. Well, they will be once Skynet happens but until then, they’re our friends. We’ve seen robot dogs, synthetic skin, and all sorts of animatronics that involve robot parts. Have you ever seen a robotic bird though that is actually capable of flight? And no, we don’t mean flight in the sense of having propellers, but flying through creating actual lift by flapping its wings. Yes, this bionic bird does exist, and its actually been around longer than you might think.

    Meet Festo the bionic bird (actually called the SmartBird) from the World Robot Conference in China.

    At the World Robot Conference held in China, the 'bionic bird' was introduced, which looks like a real bird and can do all the natural movements of a bird.

    pic.twitter.com/xVKw0f2W9Z

    — Tansu YEĞEN (@TansuYegen) July 5, 2022

    The bird flies around the room using nothing but the flapping of its own wings in order to generate the lift necessary to fly. On the side of the little critter you can see the name FESTO printed on it. You can also the name on the stage behind the presenter and controller of the unmanned craft. Festo is a family-owned company founded in Germany in 1925. With locations in more than 60 countries, they’re a world-wide specialist in automation and a producer of various parts used in robotics including actuators, sensors, pneumatics, and the software to run pneumatic systems.

    The SmartBird, seen in the clip above, measures in at a length of 1.07 meters with a wingspan of 1.96 meters. Staggeringly, it weighs only 450 grams, which is essential for its ability to fly. It’s modeled after the herring gull and as you can see from the video, is remarkably capable of emulating the movement and agility of a real bird. Despite what the above tweet suggests though, it can’t actually do “all the natural movements of a bird.” It can not for instance, poop on your car windshield.

    Festo

    When looking for details about this conference that the bird was shown off in however, we couldn’t find a 2022 World Robot Conference in China. Instead what we found was this, a Reuters news service tweet from 2019 when the bird was shown off at the conference in Beijing. So the bird is at least three years older than the previous tweet suggested. That still wasn’t enough for us though, we had to know more about this gull.

    We were not entirely surprised to find a video of this robot bird predating 2019. We were however, a bit shocked to find that the Festo YouTube channel posted video of this bird taking to the air as early as 2011. Yup, this impressive feat of aerodynamic engineering and robotics is actually celebrating over a decade of existence this year, possibly more depending on how long it was operational before this video was released.

    Clearly Festo is doing something right. Make all the jokes you want about German efficiency but to create a working robot that is so light, it can fly by flapping its own wings is pretty phenomenal. Now the only question is how long before it becomes cheap enough to make the hot ticket gift for the year?

    How long before we can live out our dreams of becoming amateur Falconers like Rusty Shackleford?

    Do You Want to Know More?

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous Article‘Thor’ Scoffs at Thought of Not Using Old Spice
    Next Article “Stranger Things” Creators, Star Exchange Thoughts on Character Deaths
    Heath Andrews

    Heath Andrews has been a student of pop culture ever since he found himself to be the only student in 3rd grade who regularly watched "Get Smart" on Nick-At-Nite. Ever since then he's been engrossed in way too much media with a growing collection of music, books, comics, TV on DVD box sets, and a video game collection that could rival a brick and mortar store. Prior to writing for Nerdbot he's written for Review You, MyAnimeList, and various advertising companies. Since 2016 he's run his own YouTube channel under the moniker of The Critical Android where he livestreams video games and uploads podcasts about pop culture and Frasier.

    Related Posts

    Exploring ThinBorne’s Slimmest Galaxy Z Flip 7 Case: You’ll Want to See This!

    July 18, 2025

    Why Your Contact Center Feels like a 90s Call Desk, and What Can You Do About it?

    July 17, 2025

    Why Your Website Looks Great but Isn’t Generating Leads

    July 15, 2025

    Real-Time Scheduling and Dispatching with Dynamics 365 Field Service

    July 13, 2025

    SEO Tips Every Lawyer Should Know to Rank Higher and Get More Leads

    July 10, 2025

    Role of Machine Learning in Transforming Inventory Demand Forecasting

    July 10, 2025
    • Latest
    • News
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Reviews

    Cameras are Rolling on “Practical Magic 2!”

    July 18, 2025

    Tried 5 Tools to Edit PDF Tax Forms – Only 1 Nailed It

    July 18, 2025

    The Best IPTV Service in 2025 – Why LivePlayer-IP.com Stands Above the Rest

    July 18, 2025

    Why You Should Hire a React Native Developer for Your Next Mobile App

    July 18, 2025

    WGA Condemns CBS Cancelling “The Late Show,” Colbert

    July 18, 2025

    “I Know What You Did Last Summer” Pretty Cast, Same Bland Story [Review]

    July 17, 2025

    “Cloud” Internet Anonymity is the Gateway to Hell [Review]

    July 16, 2025
    Toynk and Brickcraft SDCC 2025 exclusives

    [SDCC 2025] Toynk, Brickcraft Reveal “Futurama” Figure & More

    July 16, 2025

    Cameras are Rolling on “Practical Magic 2!”

    July 18, 2025

    “I Know What You Did Last Summer” Pretty Cast, Same Bland Story [Review]

    July 17, 2025

    Taika Waititi, Drew Pearce to Tackle “Judge Dredd”

    July 17, 2025

    NEW Official Trailer for “Tron: Ares” Hits

    July 17, 2025
    "Alien: Earth"

    Noah Hawley’s “Alien: Earth” Gets a Brand New Trailer

    July 18, 2025

    CBS Announces the End of “The Late Show” in 2026

    July 17, 2025

    Berlanti Developing Live-Action “Captain Planet’ Series for Netflix

    July 17, 2025

    Netflix Officially Greenlights “Assassin’s Creed” TV Show

    July 17, 2025

    “I Know What You Did Last Summer” Pretty Cast, Same Bland Story [Review]

    July 17, 2025

    “Cloud” Internet Anonymity is the Gateway to Hell [Review]

    July 16, 2025

    “Life After” Impartial Exposé on Complex, Important Issues [Review]

    July 15, 2025

    “Superman” Big, Beautiful Mess Bursting With Color, Hope [Review]

    July 11, 2025
    Check Out Our Latest
      • Product Reviews
      • Reviews
      • SDCC 2021
      • SDCC 2022
    Related Posts

    None found

    NERDBOT
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    Nerdbot is owned and operated by Nerds! If you have an idea for a story or a cool project send us a holler on [email protected]

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.