Flying Penguins Are Awesome

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5JHMpLIqO4]

Festo, people who brought us the Manta Ray blimp are back with giant flying penguins. Actually, there’s lots of cool stuff in this video. The flying penguins are nice, but the swimming versions are amazingly believable. They need to sell these as pool toys. There’s also an interactive wall sculpture and a dangling grabby hand that apparently solves the age old riddle; “How many weird dangly grabby things does it take to randomly place several light bulbs in different sockets?”. The answer is, one.  Just like last time, they’re sharing some details in PDF form for both the air penguins and the aqua penguins.

20 thoughts on “Flying Penguins Are Awesome

  1. Ahh!!!!!!! He said “orientate”!

    Why do people say that! “Orient” already means what people use “orientate” for. Why!! Why do people do that!!!!!!!!!
    -Taylor

  2. I wonder if the “fin-ray” 3d printer really could be cheaper than reprap etc. Since it would need 3 instead of just 2 servos to place the printhead…
    (on the other hand: it could be faster, easier to build, maybe more precision…)
    Also, going for small scale, on could probably just use strong RC servos, hmmmm. Somebody give me a budget :)

    also, these cubes already exist, I just recently lost a bookmark, where some US university build snakes from cubes like these (I think). Also some japanese (iirc) made cubes that could detach and rearrange on their own: a humanoid robot could split along the waist into two autonomous bipeds.
    But it would be the perfect gift for geeks, retail those cubes at low prices, maybe 10-30$/piece, depending on what’s inside (from a full controller, to just a servo on a bus)…
    want.

  3. I would love to see a more diy version of their “fin ray effect” control system. (i.e. using basic rods to get such dexterous control)

    It kind of reminds me of one of those chords you attach to a camera to snap the shutter.

  4. i briefly mistook the swimming penguins for the real thing. very impressive. the air penguins are epic.

    it looks like this “bionic fin ray” effect can be easily reproduced using pneumatic muscles. i’m definitely going to give this a try.

  5. “Why do people say that! “Orient” already means what people use “orientate” for. Why!! Why do people do that!!!!!!!!!
    -Taylor”

    He said orientate because he’s british. It is commonly used un british english, while orient is used un american english. You’ll almost never hear any british person say orient. Also, if you’re goig to critisise the words someone is using, at the very least punctuate properly. Using multiple exclaimation marks is incorrect and a little juvenile, especially when the sentence should end in a question mark. Every single sentence you ended in an exclaimation mark, but every one was a question. Also, “Why” on it’s own does not constitute a sentence.

    It should be noted that I am only picking at your grammar in responce to your comment, and wouldn’t normally do so.

    Anyway, flying penguin zeppelins are awesome. :)

  6. I want a flying penguin… ;_;

    But seriously, this company festo are fantastic, really sweet engineering over there.
    That 3D printer looks great.
    It could be moved around pretty easily as well, compared to the big bulky ones we currently have.
    And no base liquid needed, no lasers either.


  7. Okay, guys… a 1:22?
    Doesn’t it look a little CGI’d?
    Same with the walls?
    Does anybody else get a weird feeling? Is it just me? Or am I pointing out the obvious?

  8. @alphathon:
    your spelling is terrible. if you’re going to correct someone, learn how to spell. you’re british? oh, then you definitely don’t know how to spell. get with the American program.

    i don’t know if the rest of you are being sarcastic, but it isn’t difficult to see that those “air penguins” are fully CG. i don’t know about the wall, but how the hell do you make a shiny metal penguin fly without suspension? helium? hydrogen? i don’t buy it.

    lastly, this looks AND sounds exactly like one of those ads from DOOM3 (the game, not the movie).

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