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Aerial Locomotion in Cluttered Environments

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Robotics Research

Part of the book series: Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics ((STAR,volume 100))

Abstract

Many environments where robots are expected to operate are cluttered with objects, walls, debris, and different horizontal and vertical structures. In this chapter, we present four design features that allow small robots to rapidly and safely move in 3 dimensions through cluttered environments: a perceptual system capable of detecting obstacles in the robot’s surroundings, including the ground, with minimal computation, mass, and energy requirements; a flexible and protective framework capable of withstanding collisions and even using collisions to learn about the properties of the surroundings when light is not available; a mechanism for temporarily perching to vertical structures in order to monitor the environment or communicate with other robots before taking off again; and a self-deployment mechanism for getting in the air and perform repetitive jumps or glided flight. We conclude the chapter by suggesting future avenues for integration of multiple features within the same robotic platform.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Patent # PCT/IB2008/051497 & US 2011/0029161.

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Acknowledgements

These works have been sponsored by several grants of the Swiss National Science Foundation, including the NCCR Robotics, by EPFL, and by the Science and Technology Division of Armasuisse.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, EPFL Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Dario Floreano, Jean-Christophe Zufferey, Adam Klaptocz & Jürg Germann

  2. Wyss Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA

    Mirko Kovac

Authors
  1. Dario Floreano
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  2. Jean-Christophe Zufferey
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  3. Adam Klaptocz
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  4. Jürg Germann
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  5. Mirko Kovac
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Correspondence to Dario Floreano .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Robotics and Intelligent Machines, Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Henrik I. Christensen

  2. Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA

    Oussama Khatib

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Floreano, D., Zufferey, JC., Klaptocz, A., Germann, J., Kovac, M. (2017). Aerial Locomotion in Cluttered Environments. In: Christensen, H., Khatib, O. (eds) Robotics Research . Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, vol 100. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29363-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29363-9_2

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