DUE ON 4/9 TECH READING 31 DUE ON 4/9 NAME: ______________________________________ PERIOD: ___ Festo's Bionic Flying Fox Bats And Somersaulting Robotic Spiders Are Incredible By Daksha Morjaria on April 19, 2018 Bionic Flyingfoxbat (Photo Credit Festo) Over the years, Germany’s Festo has engineered some incredibly cool and functional bio-inspired robots, including ones that mimic ants, butterflies, flying jellyfish, and seagulls. On March 27, the electrical automation company added to the impressive list with two new creations — a realistic flying fox bat and a somersaulting robotic spider. Also known as fruit bats, flying foxes are members of the bat family, the only group of mammals capable of sustained flight. Unlike birds, bats do not have feathers. Instead, the nocturnal animals possess a delicate elastic flying membrane that stretches all the way from their extended metacarpal and finger bones to the foot joints. This enables the bats to control the curvature of their wings with their fingers and achieve maximum uplift, even when moving around slowly.
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DUE ON 4/9 TECH READING 31 DUE ON 4/9NAME: ______________________________________ PERIOD: ___
Festo's Bionic Flying Fox Bats AndSomersaulting Robotic Spiders Are Incredible
By Daksha Morjaria on April 19, 2018
Bionic Flyingfoxbat (Photo Credit Festo)
Over the years, Germany’s Festo has engineered some incredibly cool and functional bio-inspired robots, including ones that mimic ants, butterflies, flying jellyfish, and seagulls. On March 27, the electrical automation company added to the impressive list with two new creations — a realistic flying fox bat and a somersaulting robotic spider.Also known as fruit bats, flying foxes are members of the bat family, the only group of mammals capable of sustained flight. Unlike birds, bats do not have feathers. Instead, the nocturnal animals possess a delicate elastic flying membrane that stretches all the way from their extended metacarpal and finger bones to the foot joints. This enables the bats to control the curvature of their wings with their fingers and achieve maximum uplift, even when moving around slowly.
Grey-headed flying fox Photo Credit: Duncan PJ (CC2.0 via Flickr)
Festo’s Bionic Flying Fox, which weighs just 580 grams (20 ounces) and boasts a wingspan of almost 90 inches (228 cm), is fitted with a motion-tracking device that monitors its location and progress at all times. Two infrared ground cameras track the lights on its legs and wing tips, enabling the company to observe the bat in flight and find ways to optimize its mobility.The most significant challenge, of course, was recreating the bat’s aerodynamic wings. Controlled by two small motors, they comprise a primary and secondary section that imitate a fruit bat’s
movements as closely as possible. “The model’s flying membrane is wafer-thin and ultralight whilst also robust,” said Festo. “It consists of two airtight films and a knitted elastane fabric, which are welded together at approximately 45,000 points. Due to its elasticity, it stays almost uncreased, even when the wings are retracted. The fabric’s honeycomb structure prevents small cracks in the flying membrane from getting bigger. This means that the Bionic Flying Fox can continue flying even if the fabric sustains minor damage.”
Rolling robotic spider (Photo Credit: Festo)
If you are afraid of spiders, you may want to skip this section. That’s because Festo’s second robot, dubbed Bionic Wheel Bot, is inspired by the flic-flac spider that dwells in the dunes of Morocco’s Erg Chebbi desert. In addition to walking, the recently discovered arachnid can propel into the air with a combined sequence of somersaulting and rolling on the ground. The two modes of movement come in handy in the desert’s uneven terrain. When the landscape is flat, the flic-flac uses its rolling skills to scurry along. When faced with uneven ground, the arachnid uses its eight legs to navigate through the sand.According to Festo’s website, “In order to start rolling, the Bionic Wheel Bot bends three legs each on the left and right of its body to make a wheel. Two legs folded up whilst walking then extend, push the rolled-up spider off the ground, and continuously push it forward whilst rolling. This prevents the Bionic Wheel Bot from grinding to a halt and ensures that it can move itself forward even on rough terrain. In rolling mode, the artificial spider – like its natural role model – is much faster than when walking. At the same time, the robot can even overcome inclines of up to five percent uphill.”In addition to being fun, the bio-inspired robots serve a practical purpose. They help Festo test technology for real-life issues like navigating through complex situations such as crossing rocky terrain, or learn efficient flight paths and experiment with new forms of movement.
ARTICLE COMPREHENSION: Answer the following questions using in text citing (according to Mantha, the author of the article…), proper punctuation, and proper sentence structure/spelling.
1. What are some of the bio-inspired robots Festo has created? What new robots did the company recently introduce? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. How are bat wings different from those of birds?
4. What is the purpose of the infrared ground cameras? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What special ability does the flic-flac spider have?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________COPY AND SAVE THE ANSWER SECTION (STARTING WITH “NAME” THROUGH THE QUIZ) TO A WORD/GOOGLE
DOC and SAVE AS TR 31… DELETE LINES IF TYPING ANSWERS OUT
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE6. What practical purpose do the bio-inspired robots serve?
VOCABULARY IN CONTEST: Choose the best answer and then explain why you chose that one. “This enables the bats to control the curvature of their wings with their fingers and achieve maximum uplift, even when moving around slowly.”In the above sentence, the word uplift most likely means: Highlight the correct answer.
(a) to lift up; raise; elevate(b) to improve socially, culturally, morally, or the likeGive a reason for your choice____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Multiple Choice Quiz: Circle the correct answer. Highlight the correct answer.
1. On March 27, Festo introduced ______________________a) Flying jellyfishb) Robotic antsc) A somersaulting robotic spider
2. Flying foxes are are also called _______________a) Fruit batsb) Vegetable batsc) Root bats
3. The Bionic Wheel Bot propels itself through the air by ________________a) Somersaulting and rolling on the groundb) Walking and rolling on the groundc) Strolling and somersaulting on the ground
COPY AND SAVE THE ANSWER SECTION (STARTING WITH “NAME” THROUGH THE QUIZ) TO A WORD/GOOGLE DOC and SAVE AS TR 31… DELETE LINES IF TYPING ANSWERS OUT
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE4. Bats are different from birds because ____________________
a) They have flying membranes instead of feathersb) They have neither flying membranes or feathersc) They have feathers instead of flying membranes
