Folding drone holds promise for search and rescue applications

Developed by a team from the Robotics and Perception Group at the University of Zurich and the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at EPFL (Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) the drone takes its inspiration from the way in which birds are able to fold their wings in mid-air, and is able to squeeze itself to pass through gaps during flight.

The group claims that the folding drone could enter buildings through gaps which are too narrow for conventional drones be used to look for people trapped inside and guide the rescue team towards them.

“Our solution is quite simple from a mechanical point of view, but it is very versatile and very autonomous, with onboard perception and control systems,” explained Davide Falanga, researcher at the University of Zurich and author of a paper on the project published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters 

The Zurich and Lausanne teams worked in collaboration and designed a quadrotor with four propellers that rotate independently, mounted on mobile arms that can fold around the main frame thanks to servo-motors. The control system adapts in real time to any new position of the arms, adjusting the thrust of the propellers as the centre of gravity shifts.