Jumping aided takeoff: Conceptual design of a bio-inspired jumping-flapping multi-modal locomotion robot

Abstract

Takeoff is the start of flying. Self-takeoff of flapping-wing robots can improve their practical values in large area surveillance, search and rescue, etc. However, self-takeoff for this kind of robots is still a challenging problem. Inspired by the takeoff of birds and insects assisted by their legs and feet pushing the ground during taking off, this work presents the conceptual design of a jumping-flapping multi-modal locomotion robot to study the feasibility of jumping aided takeoff. A multi-modal robots design method is proposed which makes the robots as light as possible. The jumping, flapping, tail, and driving mechanisms are designed respectively. The sensing and control systems are introduced. The self-takeoff motion planning and aerial maneuvers are studied. The simplified jumping model and the simulation results are also presented. The results of this paper could give guidelines for this kind of robots design.