If you’ve ever flown a quadcopter drone, you know that it inevitably hits walls, trees, etc. and often sustains damage in the process. But an experimental new inflatable body drone can not only bounce off obstacles, but also grab them.
Known as the SoBar (soft-body aerial robot), the helicopter is being developed by scientists at Arizona State University.
The drone’s electronics are as rugged as a regular quadcopter. However, the sealed, high-strength polyurethane-coated nylon fabric frame is inflatable. It is inspired by the thin-walled, hollow bones of birds. The end of each propeller arm protrudes beyond the propeller itself, so the arm hits the vertical surface before the propeller.
This design allows the SoBar to bounce harmlessly off walls as well as slam into horizontal surfaces without damage. With that capability in mind, the researchers outfitted the drone with a bottom-mounted perched grasper made of steel leaf springs wrapped in an inflatable nylon sleeve.
When the Grasper is pushed hard against a branch or other object, the previously flattened spring automatically springs out and snaps around it, holding the SoBar in place. Battery power up by hovering. Likewise, mechanically bistable springs use no force to hold flat or clasps.
When it’s time to leave, an integrated actuator expands to stiffen the grasper sleeve and return the wrapped spring to its original flat shape. The grasper takes only about 3 milliseconds to grab an object and it takes him less than 3 seconds to release it.
Arizona State University
The SoBar technology is expected to eventually be used in applications such as search and rescue operations at disaster sites. Drones have to navigate tight spaces where collisions with debris and other debris can occur.
“Drones need to physically interact with their surroundings to accomplish a variety of tasks,” said the associate professor of lead scientist. Professor Zhang Wenlong. “The soft body not only absorbs impact forces and provides crash resilience, but also provides the material compliance necessary for dynamic maneuvers such as stopping.”
A paper on this study was recently published in the journal soft roboticsYou can see the SoBar bouncing off the wall in the video below.
No, this isn’t the first inflatable drone we’ve seen. The Diodon Hexacopter can be deflated for easy storage. Also, when inflated, it lands on water and floats.
SoBAR – Demonstrating Collision Tolerance
Source: Arizona State University via EurekAlert
