A team of researchers at Stanford University have created a robotic bird that can fly, catch,
carry different objects, and perch on various surfaces.
This robot has been named SNAG (Stereotyped Nature-inspired Aerial Grasper).
It used the word stereotype because it acts just like birds with the same landing
behaviour irrespective of type of surface. This mechanical bird mimics the grasp of a Peregrine Falcon.
Former Stanford engineer Mark Cutkosky, and David Lentink worked together to create a 3D-printed structure instead of bones, and motors and fishing-line stand-ins.
Each leg had its own motor for moving back and forth and another one for grasping, allowing it to catch objects thrown by hand, and to perch on a large variety of surfaces.
It takes 20 milliseconds for robot falcon to close around a branch with an accelerometer on right foot activating a balancing algorithm (mathematical technique) to stabilise it when it lands.