# SmartBird: a robot bird based on the herring gull **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 15, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartbird-a-robot-bird-based-on-the-herring-gull/644084 "2012-12-15T02:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartbird-a-robot-bird-based-on-the-herring-gull/644084/1 "2012-12-15T02:28:03Z")
See it in action: [A robot that flies like a bird | Markus Fischer - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_JcKSHUtQ) More detail: [SmartBird - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartbird) Remarkable! The police and military applications are obvious. Plus it’s just too cool. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartbird-a-robot-bird-based-on-the-herring-gull/644084/2 "2012-12-15T02:39:49Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > See it in action: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg\_JcKSHUtQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_JcKSHUtQ) > > More detail: [Festo SmartBird - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartbird) > > Remarkable! The police and military applications are obvious. Plus it’s just too cool. While it’s cool is not practical for surveillance, too light and very little capability to carry any weight, i.e. cameras. Also being so large and light it would struggle against even a mild wind. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartbird-a-robot-bird-based-on-the-herring-gull/644084/3 "2012-12-15T11:07:01Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > While it’s cool is not practical for surveillance, too light and very little capability to carry any weight, i.e. cameras. Also being so large and light it would struggle against even a mild wind. Yeah, but could it carry a coconut? ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartbird-a-robot-bird-based-on-the-herring-gull/644084/4 "2012-12-15T12:52:39Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Yeah, but could it carry a coconut? That would depend on where it is manufactured. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartbird-a-robot-bird-based-on-the-herring-gull/644084/5 "2012-12-15T13:41:08Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > That would depend on where it is manufactured. Regardless of where it was manufactured, it doesn’t even have feet. How would it grip a coconut? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartbird-a-robot-bird-based-on-the-herring-gull/644084/6 "2012-12-15T16:35:28Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Regardless of where it was manufactured, it doesn’t even have feet. How would it grip a coconut? Does it have dorsal guiding feathers? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartbird-a-robot-bird-based-on-the-herring-gull/644084/7 "2012-12-15T21:06:56Z")
Are you suggesting SmartBirds are migratory? > [@Ale](#): > > While it’s cool is not practical for surveillance, too light and very little capability to carry any weight, i.e. cameras. Also being so large and light it would struggle against even a mild wind. Well, this one, maybe, but SmartBird 2.0 or 3.0 or 7.3 will be quite a bit more useful, I’ll bet. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartbird-a-robot-bird-based-on-the-herring-gull/644084/8 "2012-12-15T21:26:39Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Does it have dorsal guiding feathers? And how fast would it be able to fly, thus encumbered? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartbird-a-robot-bird-based-on-the-herring-gull/644084/9 "2012-12-15T21:48:36Z")
I’m sure you could fit a camera onto that. It weighs nearly a pound, and modern cameras don’t come anywhere near that. More to the point, though, if you wanted a small flying robot for some practical application, why bother with the flapping? This is a neat toy, but the fact remains that we can, in fact, make propeller-driven machines. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smartbird-a-robot-bird-based-on-the-herring-gull/644084/10 "2012-12-15T23:03:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > More to the point, though, if you wanted a small flying robot for some practical application, why bother with the flapping? This is a neat toy, but the fact remains that we can, in fact, make propeller-driven machines. Heck, we can make [these propellor driven things](http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YQIMGV5vtd4). I thought the bird was cool as hell tho.