Using a Sticky Design Inspires Drone Hitchhikes, Flies, and Swims by Fish, Imperial College London
A new drone design that uses hitchhiking to save power and flies in the air and on the water is now available for pre-order.
The Imperial College London team, which includes experts in aerial robotics, has built a new drone that is capable of attaching to a wide range of wet and dry surfaces, of varying texture and shape, with battery-saving characteristics. Additionally, the drone is capable of self-adapting such that it may descend from the air and then swim in the water.
Longer airborne and underwater observations are possible thanks to the drone's capacity to "rest" while hitchhiking. Professor Li Wen is the driving force behind the new drone technology, which was developed in association with Imperial College London and Empa.
Resting in the style of a fish
Drone tasks that require a lot of power, including continuous flying or propulsion underwater, are becoming increasingly common. When their batteries run out, untethered robots can't finish their duties since they don't have a backup power source to fall back on.
Using a bio-inspired adhesive disc, researchers were able to create a "rest mode" for the drone. This mode allows the robots to stick to a wide range of wet and dry surfaces of varying textures and motions. With attachment, you can save energy while still being in the same location as your equipment. The robot's'rest mode,' which conserves battery life while not in use, can be turned off.
Professor Mirko Kovac, Director of the Aerial Robotics Laboratory, and Dr. Pham Nguyen, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Infrastructure Robotics Ecosystems at the Department of Aeronautics, collaborated on the study, which was published in Science Robotics today.
The inspiration for this hitchhiking technique has come from remora fish - a species noted for their adhesive disc that allows them to catch a ride on marine predators like whales and sharks.
Remora, known more popularly as suckerfish, have also been reported to keep tight attachment out of the water, such as on dolphins while they spin in the air.
After studying the natural remora disc, the team built and 3D printed a version that resembled fish. The adhesion and detachment of the fabricated design were tested on a variety of surfaces. The device incorporates one of the first robotic systems capable of successfully attaching to rough terrain both underwater and on land.
Professor Kovac said: “This work shows how we may take inspiration from the adhesion mechanism of remora fish and integrate it with aerial robotics systems to achieve novel approaches to drone flight.”
As a result of these outside experiments, it was established that both freshwater and saltwater environments were no problem for the robot. The hitchhiker device was found to be powerful, reversible, and sturdy after a series of testing.
It has been demonstrated that an underwater camera embedded inside the drone can take pictures of sea life as part of proof-of-concept research. In comparison to self-propulsion, the hitchhiker feature reduced power consumption by 19 times. Could have a significant impact on the future of drone flying adaptability.
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Propellers with a distinctive look and feel
For long-term airborne and underwater observation, missions that require both air and water mediums, and marine life surveys, the ability to cross the air-water border is advantageous. The new drone gives the versatility needed to move across media in a steady, quick, and sequential manner.
Faster than any other aerial-aquatic robot, the drone's propeller design allows it to transform from an underwater vehicle to an aerial one in under 0.35 seconds. The passively morphing propeller does this by unfolding in the air and folding when submerged to do this.
Disaster response, coastal patrol, iceberg detection, and marine biological research all benefit from the quick transition.
The morphologically adaptive adhesion approach may adjust to the curvature of surfaces as well as surface textures, whether these are wet, dry, coarse, or damaged," Dr. Nguyen added. Traditional suction cup adhesion methods cannot do this.
"The research advances the technology of flying robots that can perform several functions in multiple situations by being able to operate and hitchhike on land and water."
Next researchers will attempt to construct completely autonomous versions of such robots that may be deployed in outside locations to undertake environmental sensing and industrial inspections jobs.
These metamorphic drones will be a primary focus, as they can easily transition between air and water in an energy-efficient manner. Professor Kovac's ERC Consolidator Grant will help fund some of this new study in the future.
Source: India Education Diary
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