Bubble wrapped deliveries

German technology firm Festo has developed a new autonomous flying device which can pick up objects by gently sucking them up into a transparent helium ball, transport them to the target destination, and then gently release them. Festo describes the equipment thus: “The handling system consists of an ultra-light carbon ring with eight adaptive propellers. In the middle of the ring sits a rotatable helium ball with an integrated gripping element.”

Click here to see a video of the system in action.

Developing robot systems that can grip objects gently has been an important goal for bionic/robotics engineers. Producing effective autonomous flying devices is another. Festo claims that its “FreeMotionHandling” system combines both.

At the moment, the system is being used to pick up and drop off items in an indoors environment – but its range of applications can be extended.