The Adidas project and the Smartbird.
A couple of years ago we had been contacted by TBWA Argentina. They loved our flying solutions and thought this was a fresh and exciting idea to offer to their client Adidas for their upcoming event at the Copa America. We discussed the possibilities with their creative department and narrowed it down to this: the flying concept for this event must be an idea around a ball or soccer boots or both. These were the objects associated with soccer that could be converted with high realism.
TBWA then came back with the great idea of an Adidas soccer ball flying back and forth over traffic between two high rise buildings which have been fitted with huge die cuts of famous soccer stars. Back and forth between the agency and us, the scale and details were adjusted until we had an idea that was convertible. Adidas loved the concept and we had a deal. However, the hard part was to actually get permits to do such an action. TBWA quickly hit the wall with safety minded city administrations in Venezuela. The concept was finally converted in front of the stadium in Maracaibo where the semis and the final took place. Four huge billboards with die cuts of Messi and Kaka were erected and we provided the flying Adidas balls along with a specially developed outdoor security system. The balls flew back and forth between the soccer boots of the players over a crossing.
Design study of the SmartBird and a test video.
You will recall the drawings of Leonardo DaVinci's flying machines trying to copy the bird flight from nature. It took more than 500 years for his vision to be realized: in 2011 finally the Festo SmartBird has arrived.
Airstage, part of Festo's Bionic Learning Network, has designed the SmartBird for Festo's trade shows and event activities. Airstage has played a major role in the development of this ingenious flying robot from the early design sketches by our engineers to its actual production in our facility. Before, nobody has gotten any farther than elementary models with simple flapping wing technology.
The SmartBird is inspired by a seagull and its design and flying capabilities are so true to nature that it can be easily mistaken for a real bird.
The SmartBird wings don't only beat up and down, but tilt at specific angels controlled by an intelligent micro-controller monitoring continuously all data and parameters during flight and making automatically real-time adjustments. The control of flight direction is achieved with a turning head and tail, just like real birds do it when they maneuver themselves through airspace!
Our previous experience with developments for Festo, especially the AirRay and AirPenguin, helped immensely to take things a giant step further in realizing the ambitious idea of a robot bird. The SmartBird was designed to prove and convey fresh ideas regarding the potential of greater energy efficiency in aviation. The SmartBird design has reached an unprecedented energy efficiency of staggering 80%. It's extremely light weight with a minimal use of components, materials and an ingenious drive technology made this stunning invention possible.