A Quadrotor With a Passively Reconfigurable Airframe for Hybrid Terrestrial Locomotion

作者:Jia, Huaiyuan*; Bai, Songnan; Ding, Runze; Shu, Jing; Deng, Yanlin; Khoo, Bee Luan; Chirarattananon, Pakpong
来源:IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 2022, 27(6): 4741-4751.
DOI:10.1109/TMECH.2022.3164929

摘要

Despite efforts to circumvent and alleviate the impact of a mid-flight collision, it remains extremely challenging to safeguard a multirotor vehicle when it operates in cluttered environments. In this work, we introduce a flying robot with the ability to roll through a gap narrower than its diameter to prevent a possible aerial collision entirely. The novelty of the proposed design lies in a simple passive mechanism that redirects the propelling thrust for the terrestrial operation without the need for extra actuators. As a result, the robot remains compact and lightweight. Furthermore, to overcome the underactuation associated with the passive structure, the transitions between flight and rolling are accomplished with a highly dynamic maneuver. In the experimental demonstration, the robot seamlessly switched between the aerial and terrestrial locomotion to safely negotiate a 10-cm opening.