AeroVironment Nano Hummingbird
Encyclopedia
The Nano Hummingbird or Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) is a tiny, remote control
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
led aircraft built to resemble and fly like a hummingbird
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
, developed in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by AeroVironment, Inc.
AeroVironment
AeroVironment Inc. is a technology company in Monrovia, California, and Simi Valley, California, that is primarily involved in energy systems, electric vehicle systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles . Paul B. MacCready, Jr., a famous designer of human powered aircraft, founded the company in 1971...
to specifications provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Hummingbird is equipped with a small video camera for surveillance and reconnaissance purposes and, for now, operates in the air for up to 11 minutes. It can fly outdoors, or enter a doorway to investigate indoor environments. It was announced to the public on 17 February 2011.
Specifications
DARPA contributed $4 million to AeroVironment since 2006 to create a prototype "hummingbird-like" aircraft for the Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) program. The result was called the Nano Hummingbird which can fly at 17 km/h (11 mph) and move in three axes of motionAircraft principal axes
An aircraft in flight is free to rotate in three dimensions: pitch, nose up or down about an axis running from wing to wing), yaw, nose left or right about an axis running up and down; and roll, rotation about an axis running from nose to tail. The axes are alternatively designated as lateral,...
. The aircraft can climb and descend vertically; fly sideways left and right; forward and backward; rotate clockwise and anti-clockwise; and hover in mid-air. The artificial hummingbird manoeuvres using its flapping wings for propulsion and attitude control. It has a body shaped like a real hummingbird, a wingspan of 16 centimetres (6.3 inches), and a total flying weight of 19 grams (0.67 ounces)—less than an AA battery
AA battery
An AA battery is a standard size of battery. Batteries of this size are the most commonly used type of in portable electronic devices. An AA battery is composed of a single electrochemical cell...
. This includes the systems required for flight: batteries, motors, and communications systems; as well as the video camera payload.
Technical goals
DARPA established flight test milestones for the Hummingbird to achieve and the finished prototype met all of them, and even exceeded some of these objectives:The device is bigger and heavier than a typical real hummingbird, but is smaller and lighter than the largest hummingbird varieties. It could be deployed to perform reconnaissance and surveillance in urban environments or on battlefields, and might perch on windowsills or power lines, or enter buildings to observe its surroundings, relaying camera views back to its operator. According to DARPA,
the Nano Air Vehicle's configuration will "provide the warfighter with unprecedented capability for urban mission operations."