Festo Bionic SmartBird Soars at the World Science Festival

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Festo Bionic SmartBird Soars at the World Science Festival

Hauppauge, NY (PRWEB) June 04, 2012

Visitors of the Festo Corporation booth at the 2012 World Science Festival experienced innovations of the automation world during the weekend celebration geared toward engaging the public about science and technology's wonder, value and implications for the future.

During the Innovation Square event on Saturday, June 2nd at NY Polytechnic Institute, MetroTech Plaza, Brooklyn, Festo displayed the AquaJelly and flew the SmartBird. A special presentation titled “Radical Innovation Inspired by Nature” featured Festo’s Dr. Heinrich Frontzek along with a panel of esteemed professors.

At the Ultimate Science Street Fair on Sunday, June 3rd at Washington Square Park, Festo was among the host of family themed presentations throughout the day. The bionic SmartBird flew at LaGuardia Place on the hour throughout the day beginning at 10:30am. For guests interested in learning more about the SmartBird, there was an indepth discussion at the presentation stage at 10:30am and 2:30pm. The AirPenguin also flew throughout the day at the NYU Kimmel Center atrium just across the street from the park.

Festo already today puts its expertise in the field of fluid dynamics to use in the development of the latest generations of cylinders and valves. By analyzing SmartBird's flow characteristics during the course of its development, Festo has acquired additional knowledge for the optimization of its product solutions and has learned to design even more efficiently.

With the Festo AirPenguins, the engineers from Festo have created artificial penguins and have taught them "autonomous flight in the sea of air". For this purpose, control and regulating technology had to be further developed into self-regulating biomechatronic systems, which could also play a future role in adaptive production.
The AquaJelly is an artificial autonomous jellyfish in water, a self-controlling system which emulates swarming behavior. AquaJelly consists of a translucent hemisphere and eight tentacles for propulsion. The AquaJelly propels itself with its tentacles in a wavelike motion. The tentacles are designed as structures on the FinRay Effect® - a construction derived from the functional anatomy of a fish’s fin. Through this development Festo has designed the adaptive gripper which enables parts of various geometries to be handled without tool changes, thus increasing manufacturing efficiencies.

About Festo    
Festo is a leading manufacturer of pneumatic and electromechanical systems, components and controls for process and industrial automation. For more than 40 years, Festo USA has continuously elevated the state of manufacturing with innovations and optimized motion control solutions that deliver higher performing, more profitable automated manufacturing and processing equipment.

Festo Bionic Learning Network
The Bionic Learning Network is part of Festo’s commitment to technical education and training. In cooperation with students, major-name universities, institutes and development companies, Festo supports projects and prototypes which extend beyond its core segments of Automation and Didactic and which may produce interesting application fields of the future. The aim is to make automated movements even more efficient and productive with the aid of bionics. The Bionic Learning Network demonstrates fascinating solutions to complex problems.

World Science Festival
The World Science Festival is a production of the Science Festival Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in New York City. The Foundation's mission is to cultivate a general public informed by science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.

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