AV News: Foldable Drone

Researchers in Switzerland are hoping they’ve taken the first step towards fully autonomous rescue missions. How? With the creation of a new foldable drone. A research team at the University of Zurich has been working on a search and rescue drone that can fit through small spaces. For example, it could fly through damaged buildings after an earthquake or fire. They say they were inspired by birds that fold their wings mid-air in order to fit through tight spaces. The drone can squeeze itself into a smaller shape to pass through gaps, then will resume its standard X shape after it’s through. Shapes include an “O” or “H” to fit through passages, and a ‘T’ shape allowing the drone’s onboard camera to inspect objects as closely as possible. It’s able to do this because of its 4 independent props mounted on mobile arms attached to the mainframe via servo-motors. Those servo-motors allow the arms to move independently, but that would be worthless without the drone’s control system. It adapts in real-time, adjusting the thrust of the props as arm position changes so it doesn’t fall out of the sky. Although excited, researchers say they’re still not done. They’d like to make the drone even more moldable and want to develop algorithms so it can move completely autonomously. To read more about the new foldable drone, Researchers in Switzerland are hoping they’ve taken the first step towards fully autonomous rescue missions. How? With the creation of a new foldable drone. A research team at the University of Zurich has been working on a search and rescue drone that can fit through small spaces. For example, it could fly through damaged buildings after an earthquake or fire. They say they were inspired by birds that fold their wings mid-air in order to fit through tight spaces. The drone can squeeze itself into a smaller shape to pass through gaps, then will resume its standard X shape after it’s through. Shapes include an “O” or “H” to fit through passages, and a ‘T’ shape allowing the drone’s onboard camera to inspect objects as closely as possible. It’s able to do this because of its 4 independent props mounted on mobile arms attached to the mainframe via servo-motors. Those servo-motors allow the arms to move independently, but that would be worthless without the drone’s control system. It adapts in real-time, adjusting the thrust of the props as arm position changes so it doesn’t fall out of the sky. Although excited, researchers say they’re still not done. They’d like to make the drone even more moldable and want to develop algorithms so it can move completely autonomously. To read more about the new foldable drone, CLICK HERE. - Kendall Mark