Design and Modeling of a Novel Transformable Land/Air Robot

This paper describes a novel transformable land/air robot that is capable of terrestrial locomotion and aerial locomotion. What is unusual about the robot is that it can transform between the two modes of locomotion at will through the transformable mechanism, allowing the robot to overcome large obstacles in their mission environment. The wheel mechanism of the robot is shared by both terrestrial and aerial locomotion, instead of simply adding a quadrotor to a wheeled mobile robot. The objective of this paper is to design the robot and establish the kinematic and dynamic models for the transformable process. Herein, we focus on the design of the driving wheels and transformable mechanism. A series of experiments about the energy analysis and the transformation from aerial locomotion mode to terrestrial locomotion mode were performed with the physical prototype; the experiment results confirmed the validity of our design and the theoretical analysis that are helpful to optimize the key parameters in our design. Moreover, our work can provide a reference for the study of the flying car.

Movement in Air

Aerial flight involves the same fluid mechanical principles as aquatic locomotion. However, the 800-fold lower density of air compared with water has marked consequences on the mechanisms of aerial locomotion. We examine the forces acting on a flying animal in which these fluid forces can be calculated. We then consider how basic features of the wings and body affect flight forces. Building on this understanding, we examine the power requirements associated with flight as a function of flight speed, based on conventional aerodynamics (i.e. steady airflow past non-oscillating wings, which applies to most engineered aircraft). Gliding flight is explained by steady-state theory and is discussed in this context. However, because flying animals must flap their wings to support weight and overcome drag, non-steady aerodynamic effects come into play. These non-steady aerodynamic effects are revealed by tracking the flow over a moving wing or by the use of robotic models.

Kinematic Design, Analysis and Simulation of a Hybrid Robot with Terrain and Aerial Locomotion Capability

Having only one type of locomotion mechanism limits the stability and locomotion capability of a mobile robot on irregular terrain surfaces. One of the possible solution to this is combining more than one locomotion mechanisms in the robot. In this paper, robotic platform composed of a quadruped module for terrain locomotion and quadrotor module for aerial locomotion is introduced. This design is inspired by the way which birds are using their wings and legs for stability in slopped and uneven surfaces. The main idea is to combine the two systems in such a way that the strengths of both subsystems are used, and the weakness of the either systems are covered. The ability of the robot to reach the target position quickly and to avoid large terrestrial obstacles by flying expands its application in various areas of search and rescue. The same platform can be used for detailed 3D mapping and aerial mapping which are very helpful in rescue operations. In particular, this paper presents kinematic design, analysis and simulation of such a robotic system. Simulation and verification of results are done using MATLAB.