3D Printed Robotic Birds of Prey

[Eddie]

Forget the Scarecrows. Pretty soon you will be able to get a 3D printed bird of prey that is controlled via a remote control. They are being test at airports, landfills and farms to scare away birds that can cause problems. According to reports they are effective in scaring away up to 75% of birds in the area. They are expected to launched sometime in 2015, and are 3D printed with a nylon / glass fiber material. Read more about them at: http://3dprint.com/11288/robird-3d-printed-birds/

[Geoff]

As an avid RC modeller, this is definitely on my must have list.

[Roxy]

That is cool but I bet the batteries don't last long. It would seem a propeller would be more efficient than trying to flap huge wings.

[Geoff]

That is cool but I bet the batteries don't last long. It would seem a propeller would be more efficient than trying to flap huge wings.

I imagine its like this somewhat inside, and requires very little actual RPM's.

[Roxy]

Wow! That is cool too!

[CaptainObvious]

It is very impressive, but from a practical point of view I think a conventionally powered plane (AKA with a propeller) shapped like a bird would be better, IMHO; ornithopters are not very efficient (short endurance) and suffer a lot of wear and tear in use (high mainteinance).

Wouldn't mind having one to play with though.

[cokreeate]

That is so awesome love the dragon fly one.

[Roxy]

It is very impressive, but from a practical point of view I think a conventionally powered plane (AKA with a propeller) shapped like a bird would be better, IMHO; ornithopters are not very efficient (short endurance) and suffer a lot of wear and tear in use (high mainteinance).

Wouldn't mind having one to play with though.

I would love to hear a detailed explaination of the difference. I don't know anything about the aerodynamics. But a normal airplane uses its forward speed to generate lift. This bird needs to flap its wings to lift itself up each and every flap. That seems expensive??? (But very cool!) With that said, they did show it soaring so probably that can be used to extend its flight times.

[CaptainObvious]

I would love to hear a detailed explaination of the difference. I don't know anything about the aerodynamics. But a normal airplane uses its forward speed to generate lift. This bird needs to flap its wings to lift itself up each and every flap. That seems expensive??? (But very cool!) With that said, they did show it soaring so probably that can be used to extend its flight times.

It has more to do with mechanical energy losses than aerodynamics, there's a lot of friction and losses in a mechanism for flapping wings, at least compared with the negligible mechanical losses of a propeller.
In theory flapping wings are more efficient than a propeller and fixed wings at generating both thrust and lift; birds and insects are indeed remarkably efficient flyers; but the mechanical contraptions, awesome as they may be, still lag behind, even with the best technology.
Just to show the difference, the human powered flight record for a conventional, propeller driven airplane is 115 kilometers, the record for a human powered ornithopter is 145 meters... and that after being towed into the air.

[bshadown]

If you want it for survilance or outdoors recording i would go for a moré orgánic desing, besides it seems to require less mantainance at all