ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Markus Fischer - Designer
Markus Fischer led the team at Festo that developed the first ultralight artificial bird capable of flying like a real bird.

Why you should listen

One of the oldest dreams of mankind is to fly like a bird. Many, from Leonardo da Vinci to contemporary research teams, tried to crack the "code" for the flight of birds, unsuccessfully. Until in 2011 the engineers of the Bionic Learning Network established by Festo, a German technology company, developed a flight model of an artificial bird that's capable of taking off and rising in the air by means of its flapping wings alone. It's called SmartBird. Markus Fischer is Festo's head of corporate design, where he's responsible for a wide array of initiatives. He established the Bionic Learning Network in 2006.

SmartBird is inspired by the herring gull. The wings not only beat up and down but twist like those of a real bird -- and seeing it fly leaves no doubt: it's a perfect technical imitation of the natural model, just bigger. (Even birds think so.) Its wingspan is almost two meters, while its carbon-fiber structure weighs only 450 grams.

Fischer says: "We learned from the birds how to move the wings, but also the need to be very energy efficient."

More profile about the speaker
Markus Fischer | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2011

Markus Fischer: A robot that flies like a bird

Um robô que voa como um pássaro

Filmed:
8,646,669 views

Muitos robôs podem voar -- mas nenhum pode voar como um pássaro. Isso é, até que Markus Fischer e sua equipe em Festo construiu o 'SmartBird' (pássaro inteligente), um robô grande, leve, modelado a partir de uma gaivota, que voa batendo as asas. Um demonstração brilhante no TEDGlobal 2011.
- Designer
Markus Fischer led the team at Festo that developed the first ultralight artificial bird capable of flying like a real bird. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

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It is a dream of mankind
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É um sonho da raça humana
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to fly like a bird.
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voar como um pássaro.
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Birds are very agile.
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Os pássaros são muito ágeis.
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They fly, not with rotating components,
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Eles voam, sem componentes rotacionais,
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so they fly only by flapping their wings.
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eles voam apenas batendo suas asas.
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So we looked at the birds,
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Portanto olhamos para os pássaros,
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and we tried to make a model
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e tentamos fazer um modelo
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that is powerful, ultralight,
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que fosse potente, ultra leve,
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and it must have excellent aerodynamic qualities
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com excelentes qualidades aerodinâmicas,
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that would fly by its own
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que voaria por si só
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and only by flapping its wings.
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e somente batendo suas asas.
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So what would be better [than] to use
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Então não seria melhor usar
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the Herring Gull, in its freedom,
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a gaivota Herring, por sua liberdade,
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circling and swooping over the sea,
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circulando e mergulhando sobre o mar,
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and [to] use this as a role model?
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como um modelo?
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So we bring a team together.
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Daí nós montamos uma equipe.
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There are generalists and also specialists
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Há generalistas e também especialistas
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in the field of aerodynamics
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no campo da aerodinâmica,
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in the field of building gliders.
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no campo da construção de planadores.
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And the task was to build
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E a tarefa era construir
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an ultralight indoor-flying model
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um modelo ultra leve que voasse em ambiente fechado
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that is able to fly over your heads.
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que fosse capaz de voar sobre nossas cabeças.
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So be careful later on.
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Tomem cuidado daqui a pouco.
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And this was one issue:
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Esta era a questão:
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to build it that lightweight
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construir este robô leve
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that no one would be hurt
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que não machucasse ninguém
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if it fell down.
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se caísse.
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So why do we do all this?
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Por que fizemos tudo isso?
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We are a company in the field of automation,
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Somos uma companhia do ramo da automação,
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and we'd like to do very lightweight structures
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e gostamos de fazer estruturas muito leves,
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because that's energy efficient,
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pois são mais eficientes.
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and we'd like to learn more about
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E queríamos aprender mais sobre
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pneumatics and air flow phenomena.
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pneumática e fenômenos de fluxo do ar.
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So I now would like you
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Agora gostaria que vocês
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to [put] your seat belts on
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atassem os cintos
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and put your hats [on].
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e colocassem seus chapéus.
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So maybe we'll try it once --
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De forma que possamos mais uma vez
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to fly a SmartBird.
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tentar fazer o 'SmartBird' voar.
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Thank you.
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Obrigado.
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(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
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(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
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(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
03:07
So we can now
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Agora podemos
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look at the SmartBird.
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olhar o 'SmartBird'.
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So here is one without a skin.
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Aqui tenho um sem a pelagem.
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We have a wingspan of about two meters.
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Sua envergadura é de aproximadamente dois metros.
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The length is one meter and six,
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O comprimento é de 1m06,
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and the weight,
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o peso,
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it is only 450 grams.
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é de apenas 450 gramas.
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And it is all out of carbon fiber.
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Todo feito em fibra de carbono.
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In the middle we have a motor,
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No centro temos um motor,
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and we also have a gear in it,
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também temos um câmbio lá dentro.
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and we use the gear
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Usamos o câmbio
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to transfer the circulation of the motor.
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para transferir o movimento circular do motor.
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So within the motor, we have three Hall sensors,
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Dentro do motor, nós temos três sensores de ambiente,
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so we know exactly where
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desta forma sabemos exatamente como
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the wing is.
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a asa está.
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And if we now beat up and down ...
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Se nós batemos as asas ...
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we have the possibility
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temos a posssibilidade
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to fly like a bird.
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de voar como um pássaro.
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So if you go down, you have the large area of propulsion,
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Portanto, se forem para baixo, temos uma grande área de propulsão.
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and if you go up,
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Se forem para cima,
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the wings are not that large,
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as asas que não são assim tão grandes,
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and it is easier to get up.
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e é fácil erguê-las.
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So, the next thing we did,
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Daí, o que fizemos a seguir,
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or the challenges we did,
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ou o desafio que enfrentamos
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was to coordinate this movement.
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foi coordenar este movimento.
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We have to turn it, go up and go down.
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Nós tínhamos de fazer subir e descer.
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We have a split wing.
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Nós temos uma asa partida.
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With a split wing
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Com uma asa partida,
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we get the lift at the upper wing,
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temos o empuxo na parte superior da asa,
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and we get the propulsion at the lower wing.
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e temos a propulsão na parte inferior da asa.
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Also, we see
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Também, vimos
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how we measure the aerodynamic efficiency.
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como medir a eficiência aerodinâmica.
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We had knowledge about
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Nós tinhamos o conhecimento da
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the electromechanical efficiency
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eficiência eletromecânica
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and then we can calculate
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e pudemos calcular
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the aerodynamic efficiency.
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a eficiência aerodinâmica.
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So therefore,
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E portanto,
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it rises up from passive torsion to active torsion,
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ela sobe por torsão passiva e torsão ativa,
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from 30 percent
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de 30 por cento
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up to 80 percent.
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até 80 por cento.
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Next thing we have to do,
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A próxima coisa que tínhamos de fazer
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we have to control and regulate
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era controlar e regular
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the whole structure.
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toda a estrutura.
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Only if you control and regulate it,
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Somente se você controla e regula a asa,
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you will get that aerodynamic efficiency.
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você consegue uma eficiência aerodinâmica.
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So the overall consumption of energy
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O consumo total de energia
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is about 25 watts at takeoff
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é por volta de 25 watts ao decolar
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and 16 to 18 watts in flight.
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e de 16 a 18 watts em voo.
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Thank you.
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Obrigado.
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(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
05:26
Bruno Giussani: Markus, I think that we should fly it once more.
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Bruno Giussani: Markus, Acho que nós deveríamos voar mais uma vez.
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Markus Fischer: Yeah, sure.
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Markus Fischer: Sim, claro.
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(Laughter)
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(Risos)
05:53
(Gasps)
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(Gritos)
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(Cheers)
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(Vivas)
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(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Wanderley Jesus
Reviewed by Isabel Villan

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Markus Fischer - Designer
Markus Fischer led the team at Festo that developed the first ultralight artificial bird capable of flying like a real bird.

Why you should listen

One of the oldest dreams of mankind is to fly like a bird. Many, from Leonardo da Vinci to contemporary research teams, tried to crack the "code" for the flight of birds, unsuccessfully. Until in 2011 the engineers of the Bionic Learning Network established by Festo, a German technology company, developed a flight model of an artificial bird that's capable of taking off and rising in the air by means of its flapping wings alone. It's called SmartBird. Markus Fischer is Festo's head of corporate design, where he's responsible for a wide array of initiatives. He established the Bionic Learning Network in 2006.

SmartBird is inspired by the herring gull. The wings not only beat up and down but twist like those of a real bird -- and seeing it fly leaves no doubt: it's a perfect technical imitation of the natural model, just bigger. (Even birds think so.) Its wingspan is almost two meters, while its carbon-fiber structure weighs only 450 grams.

Fischer says: "We learned from the birds how to move the wings, but also the need to be very energy efficient."

More profile about the speaker
Markus Fischer | Speaker | TED.com