Researchers put bird legs on a drone so it can take off by jumping. EPFL’s RAVEN is a fixed-wing drone that can take off without a runway using bird-inspired legs.

Another modification that’s on the way for RAVEN is foldable wings that the robot will use to squeeze through tight spaces. “Flapping wings would also be a very interesting topic.

Scientists in Switzerland have built a revolutionary robot raven that leaps into flight like a bird. They hope that one day the design could eliminate the need for runways for small fixed-wing ...

Studying the flapping flight of birds is another area I'd like to explore. Adding flapping wings to a robot like RAVEN would enhance flight agility and provide more opportunities to study bird ...

With legs and wings, the RAVEN can take off with no runway, and even hop along the ground. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works ...

In indoor tests, RAVEN could jump almost half a metre into the air and at 2.4 metres per second – which is a similar speed to birds of the same size – at which point a propeller takes over.