Quadcopters are versatile drones that can perform a wide range of activities, but are limited by their four arms. Today at UC Berkeley they may have solved the problem by developing a new experimental multipurpose drone A drone that literally transforms, with folding arms that open and close during flight.
The best side is that to 'transform' this drone the researchers called Midair you do not need expensive (energetically) electronic actuators. The Berkeley prototype has hinges that open or close using gravity or reverse thrust.
Genius and sustainability
This configuration allows for a wide range of motion. If the drone has to squeeze into a small vertical space while moving horizontally, it transforms like this: two opposite arms are reversed in the direction of the thrust, both folding down. Once “slimmed down” by this transformation, it can now smoothly transition into a smaller space.
It also turns into a bellboy
The arms of the drone can also be used to grab boxes and small weights, as if they were 'claws'. Objects that are picked up and placed in different positions.
Multipurpose means multipurpose
Midair's ability can be seen in the way he manages the situation while consuming as little energy as possible. The drone it can also descend through a narrow opening. In that case, it simply uses the fall to bend its arms. It literally falls and closes, only to reopen immediately afterwards and find a push upwards.
Finished? One more last trick: if the drone needs to 'rest', it can close on a wire, a branch, a power line, even turning off its propellers. Its arms, dangling along the central body, lower the center of gravity of the quadcopter below the point of contact, keeping it in balance. Tightrope walker!
In other words, this brat has come a long way since, in 2019, its first prototype was presented in the scientific journal IEE Xplore. Who knows what he will be able to do in the coming months.
