1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, 2 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,240 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. But when it 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: comes to accomplishing deft aerobatic maneuvers, aerial drones still aren't 4 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: as good as birds and other flying animals, though engineers 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:21,960 Speaker 1: are working on it, and they're also working on another 6 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: avian feet of agility, the ability to land and perch 7 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: on just about any object or surface, ranging from tree 8 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: branches to telephone wires without falling off. This is perhaps 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: more complicated than it sounds. A gripping random surfaces is 10 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,919 Speaker 1: easy for many birds and other animals, including many humans, 11 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: but it's difficult for robots. Think about how you grip, 12 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 1: say a door handle or a coffee cup. You have 13 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: to figure out where the object is and how wide 14 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: to open your hand, and how to close your hand 15 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: around it, and how tightly to close your hand without 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: breaking the handleboard, the cup or breaking your hand for 17 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: that matter. It's not easy for all humans. Now imagine 18 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: you were trying to balance on that object that you're gripping. 19 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,759 Speaker 1: But researchers at Stanford University have developed a device called 20 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: a stereotyped Nature inspired Aerial grasper or SNAG for short 21 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: that can be attached to a quad copter drone to 22 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: give it feet and legs resembling those of a falcon. 23 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,040 Speaker 1: When equipped with the device, the drone is able to 24 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: not just fly around, but catch and carry objects and 25 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: then perch on various surfaces. Of course, a duplicating the 26 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: agility of birds wasn't easy to do. The researchers shot 27 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: video of small parrots flying back and forth between special 28 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: perches that contained sensors to measure the physical forces of landing, perching, 29 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: and take off. One of the researchers, William Roderick, explained 30 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: in the Stanford News release in December. What surprised us 31 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: was that the birds did the same aerial maneuvers no 32 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: matter what surface as they were landing on. They let 33 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: the feet handle the variability and complexity of the surface 34 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: texture itself. Giving a drone similar abilities required technological ingenuity. 35 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: A snag has a three D printed structure that emulates 36 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: a falcon's lightweight bones, and each of its legs is 37 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: equipped with one motor for moving back and forth and 38 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:26,399 Speaker 1: a second one for grasping mechanisms in the robots legs 39 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: are designed to absorb impact energy and passively convert it 40 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: into grasping force the way that a bird's tendons would. 41 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: As a result, a drone equipped with the device can 42 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 1: clutch something strongly in just twenty milliseconds. Once the robot's 43 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: feet are wrapped around a perch, its ankles lock, and 44 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,239 Speaker 1: an accelerometer device that measures changes in motion detects the 45 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: landing and triggers a balancing algorithm to stabilize it on 46 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: the perch elsewhere. Researchers at other institutions have also been 47 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: working for years on giving drones the ability to land 48 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: and hang onto something. For example, in researchers at Northeastern 49 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,359 Speaker 1: University unveiled a technology that allows a flying drone to 50 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: hang upside down like a bat. Being able to land 51 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: in various places helps drones to conserve energy that they 52 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: would expend by having to remain airborne. That's really useful 53 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: because the flight time of robotic aircraft is limited by 54 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: their battery power, and their battery power is in turn 55 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:34,359 Speaker 1: limited by the weight that the aircraft can carry. Today's 56 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 1: episode is based on the article Robotic drones can now fly, 57 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,119 Speaker 1: stop and perch just like birds on how Stuff Works 58 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 1: dot Com, written by Patrick J. Tiger brain Stuff is 59 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio in partnership with how stuff 60 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four 61 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the heart radio app, 62 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.