Towards bio-inspired structural design of a 3D printable, ballistically deployable, multi-rotor UAV

Henderson, Luke; Glaser, Twain; Kuester, Falko

doi:10.1109/aero.2017.7943970

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Unlike the approach in [13], [14], which employs a synergic implementation of a dual-stiffness behavior and energy absorbing structures, we implement an origamiinspired method [16], [17] to create a transformable airframe for collision tolerance. The morphological adaptation has demonstrated various functions in aerial robots, including for protection and safety, [11], [18], improved agility [19], [20], rapid deployment [21], and aerial grasping [8]. Upon a collision, our robot deforms by folding according to the predetermined features without the need of extra sensors or actuators.…”

Section: CMmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Quadrotor With an Origami-Inspired Protective Mechanism

Shu

Chirarattananon

2019

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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Despite advances in localization and navigation, aerial robots inevitably remain susceptible to accidents and collisions. In this work, we propose a passive foldable airframe as a protective mechanism for a small aerial robot. A foldable quadrotor is designed and fabricated using the origami-inspired manufacturing paradigm. Upon an accidental mid-flight collision, the deformable airframe is mechanically activated. The rigid frame reconfigures its structure to protect the central part of the robot that houses sensitive components from a crash to the ground. The proposed robot is fabricated, modeled, and characterized. The 51-gram vehicle demonstrates the desired folding sequence in less than 0.15 s when colliding with a wall when flying.

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Section: CMmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Quadrotor With an Origami-Inspired Protective Mechanism

Shu

Chirarattananon

2019

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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“…However, to enable the ability to ballistically launch like SQUID, these existing foldable platforms must be redesigned to withstand launch loads and maintain passive aerodynamic stability post-launch. Ballistically-launched aerial systems that combine an aerodynamically stable structure and a foldable airfoil system have been developed in coaxial rotorcraft [12] and multirotor [13] formats, but both designs are still in the theoretical design phase, and have yet to demonstrate a transition from ballistic to stabilized flight.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Autonomous Stabilization of a Ballistically-Launched Multirotor

Bouman

Nadan

Anderson

et al. 2020

2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

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Aircraft that can launch ballistically and convert to autonomous, free-flying drones have applications in many areas such as emergency response, defense, and space exploration, where they can gather critical situational data using onboard sensors. This paper presents a ballistically-launched, autonomously-stabilizing multirotor prototype (SQUID-Streamlined Quick Unfolding Investigation Drone) with an onboard sensor suite, autonomy pipeline, and passive aerodynamic stability. We demonstrate autonomous transition from passive to vision-based, active stabilization, confirming the multirotor's ability to autonomously stabilize after a ballistic launch in a GPS-denied environment.

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“…However, to enable the ability to ballistically launch like SQUID, these existing foldable platforms must be redesigned to withstand launch loads and maintain passive aerodynamic stability postlaunch. Ballistically launched aerial systems that combine an aerodynamically stable structure and a foldable airfoil system have been developed in coaxial rotorcraft [12], and multirotor [13] formats, but both these designs are still in the theoretical design phase, and have yet to demonstrate a transition from ballistic to stabilized flight.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Autonomous Stabilization of a Ballistically Launched Multirotor

Bouman¹,

Nadan²,

Anderson³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Aircraft that can launch ballistically and then convert to autonomous, free-flying drones have applications in many areas, such as emergency response, defense, and space exploration, where they can gather critical situational data using onboard sensors. In previous work, we presented a proof-of-concept, manually-stabilized folding multirotor that deploys from a pressurized tube mounted on a vehicle moving at speeds of up to 50 mph. This paper presents a larger, autonomously-stabilizing multirotor prototype with an onboard sensor suite, autonomy pipeline, and improved aerodynamic stability margin. We also demonstrate autonomous transition from passive to active stabilization, confirming the multirotor's ability to autonomously stabilize after a ballistic launch in a GPS-denied environment.

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Towards bio-inspired structural design of a 3D printable, ballistically deployable, multi-rotor UAV

Cited by 20 publications

References 9 publications

A Quadrotor With an Origami-Inspired Protective Mechanism

A Quadrotor With an Origami-Inspired Protective Mechanism

Design and Autonomous Stabilization of a Ballistically-Launched Multirotor

Design and Autonomous Stabilization of a Ballistically Launched Multirotor

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