Protect and swerve: innovation perched for success

Arizona State University's Groundbreaking Innovation Enhancing Collision Resilience and Perching Capabilities for Critical Missions

Credit:

Announced in advance of the recent XPONENTIAL, the world's largest drone expo held in May in Denver, USA; innovation in SAR drones continues apace. ARPAS-UK is headline sponsor of DRONEX, Europe's largest business event dedicated to the drone industry, set to spotlight more SAR drone and sensor innovations and will take place at ExCel, London 26-27 September. More information: www.dronexpo.co.uk/

An Arizona State University (ASU) robotics research team have developed an innovative drone capable of withstanding collisions, making it ideal for search and rescue missions. In the aftermath of devastating disasters like earthquakes, time is of the essence, and finding survivors quickly is crucial.

Conventional search and rescue efforts employ thermal imaging equipment and sensitive listening devices to detect signs of life. However, inaccessible areas, such as collapsed buildings, present a challenge. While aerial drones have the potential to navigate through these spaces, their fragility has limited their usage. The current designs lack resilience and often crash upon collision with debris or structures.

Recognizing this limitation, Wenlong Zhang, an associate professor and robotics expert at ASU's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, and his lab team have developed a groundbreaking quadrotor drone with an inflatable frame. The unique feature of this drone is its adjustable stiffness, allowing it to absorb unexpected impacts and quickly recover. Their findings were published on April 20 in the technology journal Soft Robotics, highlighting the importance of drones that can physically interact with their surroundings. Zhang explains that a soft body not only provides collision resilience but also enables dynamic maneuvers, like perching.

Perching is a controlled collision techniqueobserved in birds, where compliant joints and soft tissues absorb impact forces. Inspired by this natural model, Zhang and his team designed a fabric-based bistable grasper for the drone. The bistable grasper has two unpowered resting states: open and closed. Upon landing, it reacts to the impact by snapping closed, securely gripping onto objects of different shapes and sizes. The passive locking mechanism eliminates the need for muscular energy or additional power to maintain its hold.

This ability to perch on various surfaces without consuming energy is crucial for sustained drone operations. Drones can position themselves as needed and conserve battery power by turning off their rotors. Zhang believes that such dynamic environmental interaction expands the potential use of drones, not only in search and rescue operations but also in monitoring forest fires, aiding military reconnaissance, and exploring other planets.

The team's work marks a significant milestone in the field of soft aerial robotics. Zhang envisions that their research will inspire further innovative and bio-inspired designs, opening doors to a multitude of functionalities for conformable and reconfigurable drones.

This research team's groundbreaking drone design addresses the limitations of conventional drones by introducing an inflatable frame and a bistable grasper for controlled perching. These advancements offer exciting opportunities for improved collision resilience and dynamic environmental interaction, making the drone a valuable asset for search and rescue missions and a wide range of other applications.

Philip Hicks

Pravo Consulting

Contact:

Emai: phil@pravoconsulting.com

Telephone: +44 (0) 7467 510339

Contact: graham.brown@arpas.uk