Festo released new information about its eMotion butterflies last week, another project from their Bionic Learning Network. The butterflies follow the eMotion Spheres and the BionicOpter as Festo's continuing attempts to make smarter flying robots.
Ten infrared cameras are installed inside the butterfly test zone, giving 160 images per second with a 250 microsecond exposure. This data allows the master controller to analyze 3.7 billion pixels per second to control the flight of the butterflies.
http://www.festo.com/net/SupportPortal/Files/367913/Festo_eMotionButterflies_en.pdf
The butterflies themselves have a 50 centimeter wingspan and weight 32 grams each. The wings beat one to two times per second and can fly for around three minutes on the two 7.4 Volt 90 milli Amp hour lithium polymer batteries before needing fifteen minutes of recharging. A maximum speed of 2.5 meters per second can be reached.
Gyroscopes, accelerometers, inertial sensors, a compass and infrared LEDs are all used in coordination to tell the controllers where the butterflies are in three dimensional space at any point in time.
A split wing design was used in the wings of the butterflies to maximize wingspan while mimimizing weight, with the everpresent idea that the flying robot forms should be as close to their biological models as possible. Small overlap between the top and bottom wing pairs create an air gap that gives better lift when the wings beat.
Ten cameras positioned through the test aviary monitor the entire area and each robot is constantly watched by at least two cameras. The cameras filter out everything but infrared light and two infrared LEDs on each butterfly body flash so the cameras can capture data about their position, orientation and relative distance to the rest of the fleet.
Building a fleet of bionic butterflies is definitely a cool project meant to draw attention to the Festo company, but the long term possibilities are also impressive. Showing the relative position in three dimensions for several objects will help in the factories of the future, along with the possibilities to aid in air traffic control and the (hopefully) inevitable flying cars.
http://www.festo.com/net/SupportPortal/Files/367913/Festo_eMotionButterflies_en.pdf