The Bearing Capacity and the Rational Loading Mode of Pigeon during Takeoff

Abstract

A bio-robot treats the living animal itself as the robot-moving carrier, which possesses good mobility and adaptability even in complicated non-structured environments. As one of the flyable bio-robots, pigeon-robots have been studied for several years. However, how to arrange the equipments on board effectively to minimize the impact to pigeons natural flight has not been considered. In this study, we estimated the bearing capacity of a pigeon during takeoff by increasing the weight gradually. Different loading modes have also been compared to find a rational way to reduce the influence of the loading to flyability. These results are expected to be helpful to the design of pigeon-robots.