Robotic Four-winged Ornithopter From Georgia Tech (+VIDEO)
The team from Georgia Tech has designed a robotic four-winged ornithopter dubbed the TechJect Dragonfly. Combining the flight capabilities of a quadricopter, helicopter and fixed wing aircraft in one, the robot looks and flies just like an insect. The Dragonfly measures 15 cm (6 in) long, it weighs around 25 g (0.88 oz) and it is powered by a 250 mAh lithium polymer battery that provides hover times of 8-10 minutes and a hybrid (hover/flight) time of 25 to 30 minutes. The Dragonfly brings to a focus modular customization: it carries up to 20 onboard sensors to suit a wide range of applications, such as aerial photography, gaming, prototyping, programming, research and development, civilian security and military reconnaissance. All models (Alpha, Delta, Gamma and Omega) can be ordered in blue, green, yellow, orange, red, black, white and silver colors and come with a fully customizable software development kit (SDK) for the creation of custom applications. TechJect will also offer a number of free apps for iOS and Android devices and PCs; users will be able to share their custom apps and get development help from the TechJect team in an online forum.The work on this project lasted four years and was supported by U.S. Air Force. To help get the Dragonfly moving forward the TechJect team has appealed to a crowdfunding site Indiegogo.
Via:gizmag.com
