To help the Royal Society, the UK's academy of science, mark its 350th anniversary, Southbank Centre and the Royal Society are coming together to explore science and the human impulse to understand the world.
A key element of the celebration is the 10 day 'See Further Festival of Science + Arts' exhibition at Southbank Centre, which runs from June 25 to July 4. Festo's air penguins will be flying above the exhibition, and will also be joined by jellyfish and rays for performances in the auditorium of the Royal Festival Hall.
The air penguins, jellyfish and rays are all creations of Festo's Bionic Learning Network - an alliance of educational establishments and specialist companies tasked with exploring bionic solutions for automation applications of the future.
The bionic concepts have been developed to learn from nature and explore biological principles. Using helium-filled balloons, fibre control rods and rigid geometrical structures, the creatures demonstrate some of the latest concepts - they are not saleable products, but are proof of research ideas and demonstrations of design concepts, intended to stimulate dialogue with customers, suppliers and partners.
A free-of-charge display on Sunday July 4 will be followed by a Q & A session.
