Aerial Tensile Perching and Disentangling Mechanism for Long-Term Environmental Monitoring
arxiv(2024)
摘要
Aerial robots show significant potential for forest canopy research and
environmental monitoring by providing data collection capabilities at high
spatial and temporal resolutions. However, limited flight endurance hinders
their application. Inspired by natural perching behaviours, we propose a
multi-modal aerial robot system that integrates tensile perching for energy
conservation and a suspended actuated pod for data collection. The system
consists of a quadrotor drone, a slewing ring mechanism allowing 360
tether rotation, and a streamlined pod with two ducted propellers connected via
a tether. Winding and unwinding the tether allows the pod to move within the
canopy, and activating the propellers allows the tether to be wrapped around
branches for perching or disentangling. We experimentally determined the
minimum counterweights required for stable perching under various conditions.
Building on this, we devised and evaluated multiple perching and disentangling
strategies. Comparisons of perching and disentangling manoeuvres demonstrate
energy savings that could be further maximized with the use of the pod or
tether winding. These approaches can reduce energy consumption to only 22% and
1.5%, respectively, compared to a drone disentangling manoeuvre. We also
calculated the minimum idle time required by the proposed system after the
system perching and motor shut down to save energy on a mission, which is
48.9% of the operating time. Overall, the integrated system expands the
operational capabilities and enhances the energy efficiency of aerial robots
for long-term monitoring tasks.
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