Research build robot bird that perches on a human hand

Aerospace engineering researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have "duplicated the control functions that allow birds to successfully perform a soft landing--in this case, perching on a human hand." 

Soon Jo Chung, Aditya Paranjape, and Joseph Kim -- have created a micro-aerial vehicle (MAV) that can fly nimbly across a room and then pull up at just the right moment for a soft landing at a specific place, or on someone's hand.The guiding principle of their research was that the "maneuverability and control efficiency of avian flight can be replicated by applying their actuation and control principles to advanced MAVs designed on the size scale of small birds."

"Because the wings of ornithopters--birds or aircraft with flapping wings--are inherently capable of being reoriented, this capability can be used for controlling and maneuvering the aircraft in a gliding phase, thereby eliminating the need for additional traditional actuators," the university wrote in a press release. "Gliding is an effective way to conserve energy while soaring, descending, and landing."

The project being funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research can have potential military application.