Festo’s flying robot bird at The Gadget Show Live 2012

Without a doubt, for me, one of the highlights of The Gadget Show Live this year was the appearance of Festo’s bird robot in the Super Theatre.

The Super Theatre houses a live stage show where The Gadget Show presenters entertain the audience for an hour. It’s also one of the best places to see “future tech” in the show.

Festo is a German company that works on automation. In particular, they are known to the Gadget Show audience for their robots. This robotic bird is a marvel of engineering. It launches with someone throwing it and lands by gliding down – hoping someone is there to catch it. The flying, however, is purely mechanical and looks to be incredibly natural.

There’s a longer review of the Gadget Show Live 2012, with pictures, just before this blog post.