More than just another drone, the Robo Raven III flaps its wings and would be easy to mistake for a real bird in flight.
A University of Maryland Clark School of Engineering team has developed and demonstrated a new version of its Robo Raven micro air vehicle (MAV) that has flexible solar panels built into its wings.
While only generating 3.6 watts at this point and the Robo Raven requires 30 watts to fly; the solar cells allow the Robo Raven to recharge between flight stints. This functionality could allow such vehicles to engage in lengthy missions far from base in a series of hops; “feeding” on the sun in between and storing the food (energy) in on-board batteries.
“These new multi-functional wings will shape the future of robotic birds by enabling them to fly longer, farther, and more independently because they will be getting their power from the sun,” says Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. student Luke Roberts, a member of the Robo Raven team.
The team says now this first important stage has been reached, swapping to new solar cell technologies that could be more efficient will be a simpler task.
Robo Raven III is the culmination of 6 years of research; headed by Professors S.K. Gupta and Hugh Bruck.
“We still need to make significant improvements in solar cell efficiency and battery energy density to replicate the endurance of real ravens in Robo Raven III,” says Professor Gupta.
The vehicle’s wings flap completely independently of each other and can be programmed to perform complex aerobatic manoeuvres. Initially the craft was too heavy to fly, so the team used 3D printing and laser cutting to create lightweight polymer parts.
It is envisioned that drones such as the Robo Raven could be used for tasks such as reconnaissance and environmental monitoring.
A local hawk hasn’t been too impressed with the team’s efforts, attacking an earlier version of the robot in mid-flight on a couple of occasions.
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