Festo is exhibiting at Stand A9 in Hall 5 at this year’s Electra Mining event. It is also one of four sponsors for the show. A key focus area for Festo is the mining industry and it will have an extensive range of pneumatic and process automation products and solutions on offer, as well some of the latest training equipment. However, the company’s most impressive offering at the show will undoubtedly be the famous AirPenguin.
The AirPenguin is a product from Festo’s Bionic Learning Network, which is inspired by animals in nature and the tasks they perform such as gripping, moving, controlling and measuring. Whether as individual components or part of a system, automation technology carries out similar tasks every day. Festo examines these naturally occurring phenomena and develops innovative, cutting-edge bionic technology that is then integrated into products. The AirPenguin is one of these, which incorporates human-machine interfaces, autonomy and flexibility – all qualities that are required in the mining sector.
AirPenguin technology
The AirPenguin is an autonomously flying object that comes close to its natural archetype in terms of agility and manoeuvrability. It comprises a helium-filled ballonet, which has a capacity of approximately 1 cubic metre and thus generates about 1 kg of buoyant force; at each end of the ballonet is a pyramid-shaped flexible structure of four carbon fibre rods, which are connected at joints by a series of rings spaced 10 cm apart. The rings together with the carbon fibre rods yield a 3D Fin Ray structure that can be freely moved in any spatial direction. The Fin Ray was derived from the anatomy of a fish’s fin and extended here for the first time to applications in three-dimensional space.
A strut to which the two wings are attached passes through the helium-filled ballonet. This new type of wing design can produce either forward or reverse thrust. Each wing is controlled by two actuators: a flapping actuator for the up and down movement of the wings, and a further unit that displaces the wing strut to alter the pressure point of the wings. There is also a central rotational actuator for the two flapping wings that directs their thrust upwards or downwards, thus making the AirPenguins rise or descend. All three actuators are proportionally controlled. This makes for continuously variable control of the flapping frequency, forward and reverse motion, and ascent and descent.
The AirPenguins are also equipped with complex navigation and communication facilities that allow them to explore their ‘sea of air’ on their own initiative, either autonomously or in accordance with fixed rules. They recognise each other on the basis of their distances to the transmitting stations, and rapid, precise control allows them to fly in a group without colliding, while also mastering height control and positional stability. A comprehensive central surveillance system provides security in case of sensor failure and reports low energy supply. Whenever necessary, it prompts the Penguins to return to the charging station.
Don’t forget to visit Festo to see this incredible invention in action.
For more information contact Kershia Beharie, Festo, 08600 FESTO, kershia.beharie@festo.com, www.festo.co.za
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