Inspired by the agility and efficiency of bat flight, engineers at Caltech and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created a winged robot they say could dramatically increase the flight time and safety of future drones.
Bat Bot, or B2, mimics the mammal’s flight using silicone-based wings that fill and expel air as they flap to keep the robot airborne.
This method conserves more energy than traditional drones — often called quadcopters — that use four propellers for elevation and movement, according to Soon-Jo Chung, associate professor of aerospace at Caltech and a Jet Propulsion Laboratory research scientist.
“It’s a whole new grade of aerial robots,” Chung said.
He developed the technology alongside Alireza Ramnezani and Seth Hutchison of UIUC.
The researchers first had to create an ultra thin silicone-based membrane to replicate a bat’s wings, because most conventional lightweight fabrics, like nylon and Mylar, did not stretch enough. The bot, just like the animal its based on, can alter its wing shape by flexing, extending and twisting at its shoulders, elbows, wrists and legs, according to Caltech.
“Bats have more than 40 joints on their wings,” Chung said. “They can perform very agile and challenging maneuvers.”
Because Bat Bot does not use propellers to fly, the robot is less dangerous to people. Chung said he could see the bat being used at construction sites, for example, without putting workers at risk.
Most conventional quadcopters use four high revolution per minute blades for flight — sometimes rotating at the speeds similar to a weed wacker.
“They’re not very efficient for long endurance flights, but they are excellent for hovering, but because of that it is noisy and dangerous,” Chung said. “You want a safe, less intrusive drone that can interact with human in close proximity.”
Bat Bot’s wings flap about 10 times per second and can glide to conserve power, making the robot a potential candidate for longer range flights for surveillance or rescue operations.
The bot is only a prototype at this point with limited flight experience. It has only flown a maximum distance of about 30 meters so far because that’s the size of the researchers’ net.
“The challenge is that we are producing engineering prototypes and we’re being careful not to break these airplanes too often,” Chung said with a chuckle.
Bat Bot is semi-autonomous at this point, rather than being controlled by a remote, and researchers aren’t comfortable letting the robot fly off into the distance yet.
Chung said he is hopeful they can add cameras, more sophisticated control algorithms and a global positioning system in the future to increase the level autonomy and the flight distance. Even if Bat Bot doesn’t replace conventional drones, the technology developed should lead to additional innovations.
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