While Festo’s Bionic Study Group has showcased numerous remarkable nature-inspired flying robots over the years, the autonomous BionicBee stands out not only for being the smallest but also as the first capable of swarming behavior.
Each year around this time, Festo makes its way to Hannover Messe, where it showcases its latest automation innovations and advancements at what’s widely regarded as the world’s premier industrial know-how trade show. If we’re lucky, the company will also unveil some exciting new robots that draw design inspiration from nature.
We’ve long been captivated by flocks of majestic, enormous birds, their ultralight frames undulating effortlessly as they dance through the air without colliding. Surrounded by an unexpected influx of artificial buzzing: a swarm of innovative robo-bees has descended upon our world?
Festo BionicBee
Despite being Festo’s smallest flying robotic, the BionicBee is still an impressive sight, measuring just 220 mm (8.6 in) in length and boasting a wingspan of 240 mm (9.5 in), with a remarkably light weight of only 34 g (1.2 oz).
At Festo’s indoor labs, a picnic can be surprisingly safe, thanks to bees that receive location updates from ultra-wideband anchors strategically placed across multiple areas within the room, effectively allowing them to “map” their surroundings as they buzz around. The central laptop plays a crucial role in determining the flight path, ensuring that the swarm flies in formation without collisions.
The BionicBees were developed using generative design, where a software tool was challenged to create the most lightweight structure possible, minimizing material usage while simultaneously striving for optimal stability.
Festo
Within its compact casing lies an intricate array of components: a brushless motor, three precision-crafted servos, a high-capacity battery, a sophisticated gear system, cutting-edge communication technology, and intelligent management modules. The wings oscillate at a rate of 15 to 20 hertz, executing forward-and-backward movements across an angular range of 180 degrees. The servo systems modify the wing’s aerodynamic profile to optimize lift and drag characteristics during landing and taxi operations.
Festo observes that each robot is painstakingly assembled by hand, underscoring the significance of meticulous craftsmanship: even minute deviations in construction can have a profound impact on performance. To ensure optimal performance, the team has incorporated an auto-calibration feature that detects and compensates for any unusual hardware variations during a brief testing phase. A sophisticated algorithm ensures harmonization of flight attributes to treat all bees uniformly, thereby safeguarding the integrity of swarming processes.
At the conclusion of Hannover Messe 2024, Festo unveiled the revolutionary swarm flight capabilities of its BionicBees.
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