“Barn swallows are the only birds that exclusively nest on human-made structures, which I thought was super interesting to relate to architecture,” Maya Handelman, ENVD ‘25, noted. Handelman, along ...

RAVEN's design is aimed at maximizing gait diversity while minimizing mass. Inspired by the proportions of bird legs (and lengthy observations of crows on EPFL's campus), Shin designed a set of ...

The researchers note that birds inspired the invention of airplanes, but even modern planes are far from perfect flying machines. A bird can quickly go from walking to flying into the air and back ...

EPFL’s RAVEN is a fixed-wing drone that can take off without a runway using bird-inspired legs. EPFL’s RAVEN is a fixed-wing drone that can take off without a runway using bird-inspired legs.

The team is also researching other bird-inspired changes like flapping wings, which could increase efficiency even further.

Shin et al. mimicked this release mechanism by adding a spring to the ankle joint of their bird-inspired leg. The foot is also equipped with a spring, which helps the leg to change direction ...