It’s a bird, it’s a plane … it’s a robo-puffin?
Engineers at MIT and EPFL have designed a flapping-wing aerial-aquatic vehicle (FAAV) weighing under 300 grams that replicates the behavior of birds like puffins and gulls. The robot features a central fuselage, flexible wings coated with hydrophobic nanoparticles, and a motorized steerable tail. Testing in tanks and Lake Geneva identified wing size, flapping frequency, and tail angle combinations enabling smooth transitions between swimming and flight, with optimal performance using medium-size flexible wings and a 70-degree pitch angle.
Key points
- FAAV weighs less than 300 grams and replicates diving, swimming, and flying behaviors
- Design uses hydrophobic wing coatings and motorized tail for directional control
- Medium-size flexible wings and specific flapping frequencies enable dual-medium operation
- Testing validated smooth transitions between aquatic and aerial modes
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