Creating an innovative drone, a scientist from the Federal Polytechnic in Lausanne was inspired by the biology of a crow’s legs. Through this biomimetic form of movement, the drone can easily take off and navigate difficult terrain, as well as jump over quite high obstacles. The creator believes that this solution will be useful in delivering packages to hard-to-reach mountainous areas and in rescue and search missions. Analysts predict that the market for non-medical biomimetic robots will increase its revenues ninefold within a decade.
“My goal was to create a robot that can move around diverse terrain. If we look at nature, birds are a great example – combining movement in the air and on the ground, they can reach anywhere. Birds can be found almost everywhere; in cities, in forests, over the sea. Therefore, I wanted to create a robot that can move in a diverse environment. I started with observing birds. I observed the way crows move, how they walk and take off, and from there I started the project,” Won Dong Shin, a PhD student at the Federal Polytechnic in Lausanne (EPFL), told Newseria agency.
The RAVEN (Robotic Avian-inspired Vehicle for multiple ENvironments) drone is similar in size to a crow. Its wingspan is 100 cm, and it weighs 620 g. The robot can “walk” a meter in just under 4 seconds, jump over a 12 cm obstacle, and hop onto an object 26 cm high. It benefits from multifunctional legs, inspired by birds, although their structure is not that complex. They are used for hopping into flight, walking on the ground and jumping over obstacles and gaps. Scientists have found that hopping during take-off contributes to increasing initial take-off speed and is more energy-efficient than starting without a jump.
According to the creator, RAVEN can be used in different applications. The first is package delivery, which is currently very troublesome in mountainous and weakly urbanized areas using existing technologies. Another application is search and rescue missions.
The drone can fly faster and over longer distances. In situations where time is crucial, it can reach its target in the shortest possible time. Let’s assume it’s a collapsing building – without robots, it would be hard to climb to the highest floors, but a flying robot can easily get there, land, and move by walking or jumping over obstacles to find a person in danger or identify potential danger and predict its effects. Then the drone can move to the next building or target point using jumps. After the mission is completed, the drone can return to base using a hop start,” the inventor believes.
RAVEN is another device creating the fast-growing market for non-medical biomimetic robots. According to Fact.MR, this market reached $1.38 billion in revenue in 2024. By 2034, revenues will reach a staggering $12.62 billion. A similar technology was developed in 2019 by South African start-up Passerine. That device used hopping legs solely for take-off, the creators did not foresee their use for land movement. RAVEN is still developing technology. The creator plans to introduce improvements.
“I would like the drone to have foldable wings, because RAVEN is a drone with a fixed wing that cannot be folded, and in tight spaces, the ability to fold them is needed. At a later stage, I plan to add a vision system, as it will be able to collect higher quality data. The vision system can also be useful for landing, which I would like to refine,” Won Dong Shin explains. “Combining a vision system and an arm will ensure smooth landing. I would also like to investigate the issue of wings with flaps not only in terms of actual applications but also to learn more about birds’ wing flapping.”
