Soft Pneumatic Actuated Morphing Quadrotor: Design and Development

Abstract

The majority of the aerial robots scientific literature investigates methods to create fully automated solutions using fixed-frame multi-rotors. However, the ability of the Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) to alter their structure and adapt to various constraints posed by the environment remains unexplored. Aerial robotic platforms that can alter their shape in-flight can increase their potential value and extend the range of applications. It is essential to develop and deploy such platforms which can effectively address the missing elements for exploring previously unreachable locations. This article deals with a novel reconfigurable quadrotor whose arms are based on Soft Pneumatic Actuators (SPA) from a design, analysis, and development point of view. Simulation analysis and experimental results are provided to showcase the potential of such designs that integrate soft actuators with the traditional fixed-frame MAVs designs.