Defence Industry

Robotic Limbs for Helicopter Drones
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Issue Net Edition | Date : 05 Mar , 2014

Robotic Arm (© Credit IEEE Spectrum)

Engineers and robotists at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) have slapped a robotic arm to the belly of a small autonomous helicopter. The idea is to expand the tasks that aerial drones can accomplish by giving them the capacity to manipulate objects that might be hard to reach for humans. DLR plans to eventually create a fleet of these flying, arm-wielding robots which will be able to work in small teams to accomplish high-flying construction and repair tasks. The choppers will vary in size from units with rotor diameters of five to ten feet.

The implementation of these newly-armed drones is still in its infancy, with stable flight still a little way off. Stable flight becomes difficult when every movement of the repair arm results in a shift in the centre of gravity. Once these issues are resolved, limbed drones could eventually be seen carrying out repairs on power lines and affixing rooftop satellite dishes for their human owners. Eventually, such drones will have useful military application as well.

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