Multi-purpose wings allow flying robot to walk across rough terrain | Hacker News Reader

Multi-purpose wings allow flying robot to walk across rough terrain

robohub.org

31 pointsrobotgal13 comments

The prototype shown in the video above can move forward at 0.2 m/s (0.7 BL/s)

What is a BL/s? Body-length per second?

That's right.

I kind of fail to see the advantage of being able to walk given that the robot can fly - I'm sure there are some, but I can't think of any.

Maybe it could lower energy use.

Imagine this being used on commercial aircrafts...

Captain: We have now landed at SFO. We will now taxi to gate A3.

Passengers: OH CRAP. bumps up and down

But in all seriousness, this could be a precursor to a more fluid form of wing morphing, i.e. without joints. Sort of like Eddy in Stealth, which morph its wings to direct jet exhaust downwards to create vertical lift.

I've fallen and I can't get up! Looks cool, but based on the design once it's on the ground I can't see how it could generate enough airspeed for lift to get back in the air.

Designed for single use ?

I imagine a good use case could be for search and rescue in rough/inaccessible terrain. Imagine a building has collapsed trapping people inside. A flight-capable vehicle could quickly navigate to the area, and once it reaches the rubble, it can crawl in, searching for survivors.

> I've fallen and I can't get up!

How many of us are old enough to get that?

Consider the end point of a mission; getting there is more important perhaps than getting back, especially for a drone. If everything work out, they can be retrieved manually later.

Or perhaps they just need to find a cliff.

This project uses a unique design approach called 'adaptive morphology', where one part of a robot’s structure is adaptable and shared between different modes of operation. Cool!

Awkward gait, brilliantly elegant design.

Looks a bit like a bat when they are on the ground, pretty interesting stuff.

Now that you mention it, if any aircraft in the history of mankind deserves the name "Bat Wing", this is it.

We have achieved real, functional, practical Transformers. Everyone can retire now; Science is over.

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