Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s a walking drone – with wings, legs and toes that jumps into takeoff

The RAVEN fixed wing drone walking .

Technology continuously takes inspiration from natural sources. Think cat’s eye cameras for seeing through camouflage, or AI that replicates the human brain to single out individual sounds in a busy room.

Now, at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, at the Swiss École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, doctoral student Won Dong Shin has created his RAVEN (Robotic Avian-inspired Vehicle for multiple ENvironments) fixed-wing drone.