Engineers build first robotic bird to take off like a real bird with FSF motion
A team of Chinese engineers from Northwestern Polytechnical University has built and successfully flown a falcon-inspired robot that can take off from the ground just like a real bird would. The robot — named RoboFalcon2.0 and detailed in the journal Science Advances — is the first bird-sized robot to achieve self-powered takeoff and flight without relying on launch assistance.
The breakthrough is based on the robot's ability to replicate the intricate FSF wing motion that birds and bats use for takeoff and slow-speed flight. This complex motion involves powerful ventral downstrokes and aerodynamically inactive upstrokes. To fulfill this requirement, the team developed a novel “conical rocker mechanism” that translates the power for a single main actuator into coordinated flapping, sweeping, and folding of the wings.
In tests, RoboFalcon2.0 successfully used the FSF wing motion to take off — leaning forward on its legs, flapping rapidly to generate lift, and transitioning into forward flight. While the robot excels at takeoff and slow-speed maneuvers, the researchers say it struggles with pitch stability at higher speeds due to the absence of a tail elevator — a challenge they plan to address in future iterations.
The robot weighs 800 grams and has a wingspan of 1.2 meters. It holds potential application in fields like wildlife surveillance and documentation, as it could feel less intrusive for wildlife.
