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Flying Insects and Robots pp 247–270Cite as

A Miniature Vehicle with Extended Aerial and Terrestrial Mobility

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Abstract

This chapter describes the design, fabrication, and field testing of a small robot (30.5 cm wingspan and 30.5 cm length) capable of motion in both aerial and terrestrial mediums. The micro-air–land vehicle (MALV) implements abstracted biological inspiration in both flying and walking mechanisms for locomotion and transition between modes of operation. The propeller-driven robot employs an undercambered, chord-wise compliant wing to achieve improved aerial stability over rigid-wing micro-air vehicles (MAVs) of similar size. Flight maneuverability is provided through elevator and rudder control. MALV lands and walks on the ground using an animal-inspired passively compliant wheel-leg running gear that enables the robot to crawl and climb, including surmounting obstacles larger than its own height. Turning is accomplished through differential activation of wheel-legs. The vehicle successfully performs the transition from flight to walking and is able to transition from terrestrial to aerial locomotion by propeller thrust on a smooth horizontal surface or by walking off a vertical surface higher than 6 m. Fabricated of lightweight carbon fiber the ~100 g vehicle is capable of flying, landing, and crawling with a payload exceeding 20% its own mass. To our knowledge MALV is the first successful vehicle at this scale to be capable of both aerial and terrestrial locomotion in real-world terrains and smooth transitions between the two.

Video of the robot during field testing may be observed at: http://faculty.nps.edu/ravi/BioRobotics/Projects.htm.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Initial performance specifications also called for a wingspan <33 cm for device portability.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Air Force Research Laboratories Munitions Research Directorate (under contracts FA8651-04-C-0234 and FA8651-05-C-0097) and by the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS)/USSOCOM Field Experimentation Cooperative Program. The authors would like to acknowledge the program support directors Dr. David Netzer of the Naval Postgraduate School and Chris Perry and Jeffery Wagner at Us Air Force Research Laboratories for technical and mission planning insights. Dr. Kevin Jones provided assistance in sensor placement and piloting/performance research. Baron Johnson and Daniel Claxton made significant contributions including vehicle design and flight testing. Michael Sytsma, Michael Morton, and the University of Florida MAV group also contributed to the development, testing, and analysis of MALV II.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. BioRobots, LLC, Cleveland, USA

    Richard J. Bachmann

  2. Department of Systems Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Ravi Vaidyanathan

  3. Department of Systems Engineering, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA

    Ravi Vaidyanathan

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    Frank J. Boria

  5. United States Marine Corps, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA

    James Pluta, Josh Kiihne & Robert H. Bledsoe

  6. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL, USA

    Brian K. Taylor & Peter G. Ifju

  7. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA

    Roger D. Quinn

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  1. Richard J. Bachmann
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  9. Roger D. Quinn
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Correspondence to Roger D. Quinn .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Dario Floreano

  2. Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland

    Jean-Christophe Zufferey

  3. Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, 4072, Australia

    Mandyam V. Srinivasan

  4. Dept. Zoology, University Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom

    Charlie Ellington

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Bachmann, R.J. et al. (2009). A Miniature Vehicle with Extended Aerial and Terrestrial Mobility. In: Floreano, D., Zufferey, JC., Srinivasan, M., Ellington, C. (eds) Flying Insects and Robots. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89393-6_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89393-6_18

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