Bionic penguins take to the water – and the skies

New Scientist ^ | 04/21/09 | Colin Barras

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Bionic penguins take to the water – and the skies

17:15 21 April 2009 by Colin Barras

Video: The flexibile necks of these bionic penguins steer the robots as well as making them look realistic (Image: Festo)

The graceful robotic penguins in the video above were unveiled by German engineering firm Festo this week.

Using their flippers, the mechanical penguins can paddle through water just like real ones, while larger helium-filled designs can "swim" through the air. The penguins are on show at the Hannover Messe Trade Exhibition in Germany.

Each penguin carries 3D sonar developed by EvoLogics in Berlin, Germany, which is used to monitor its surroundings and avoid collisions with walls or other penguins.

Head turning

The bionic penguins can twist and turn almost as gracefully as their living counterparts because of the flexible glass fibre rods that control their heads.

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The Flying Penguin

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Ping!

[DM1]

[anymouse]

I saw the videos on YouTube. Amazing. The jellyfish ones were great too.

[dennisw]

Never in a million years will an Islamic country come with such hi-tech robotic stuff. Yet they will rule Europe in 50 years because they out breed the natives including the guys in Germany who invented these

[TigerLikesRooster]

If the current trend stays(it might not in the future,) the only way Germans get out of this population decline is to breed babies in incubator, while penguin robots guard their sky.:-)