In this work, we present an experimental setup and guide to enable the perching of large flapping-wing robots. The combination of forward flight, limited payload, and flight oscillations imposes challenging conditions for localized perching. The described method details the different operations that are concurrently performed within the 4 second perching flight. We validate this experiment with a 700 g ornithopter and demonstrate the first autonomous perching flight of a flapping-wing robot on a branch. This work paves the way towards the application of flapping-wing robots for long-range missions, bird observation, manipulation, and outdoor flight.

German engineering company Festo has created robotic birds capable of amazingly realistic flight.The firm acknowledges that the robo-birds don't have any business applications yet, but hopes one could be found in future.Until then, a whole fleet (or flock) of the birds have been unveiled in a video showing off how they can take to the air.Festo has built miniaturised robots before, but nothing quite like these birds, which are able to flutter through the air, gliding and even directing themselves thanks to a radio system.Officially called the BionicSwift, the next generation robot is able to fly thanks to ultra-lightweight artificial feathers.Each device weighs only 42 grams, meaning nine of them would weigh the same as a full soft drink can – or about twice as much as a real swallow.Festo has managed to get the birds to fly with realistic motion thanks to the artificial feathers and soft plates covering their bodies.When the BionicSwift robots rise in the air, these lightweight plates bunch up to provide the lift – and when the robo-birds descend, the plates fan out to allow them to glide gracefully, or to make sharp turns and fly in loops.

Inspired by the beauty and flying ability of birds, Leonardo da Vinci strived centuries ago to create a human-powered flapping-wing flying machine. But his designs, which da Vinci explored in his Codex on the Flight of Birds, were never developed in any practical way. Even today, mimicking bird flight still presents challenges due to the physiological complexity of a bird's flapping wings. For years, researchers at the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering have been moving ever closer to faithfully imitating bird flight with Robo Raven, the first bird-inspired unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that has successfully flown with independent wing control. Robo Raven can also be programmed to perform any desired motion, enabling the UAV to perform aerobatic maneuvers.