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JRM Vol.24 No.4 pp. 642-648
doi: 10.20965/jrm.2012.p0642
(2012)

Paper:

A Bio-Inspired Adaptive Perching Mechanism for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Wanchao Chi*, Kin Huat Low*, Kay Hiang Hoon*,
Johnson Tang**, and Tiauw Hiong Go*

*School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore

**Defence Science Organization, Singapore

Received:
December 29, 2011
Accepted:
May 17, 2012
Published:
August 20, 2012
Keywords:
perching mechanism, bio-inspired design, UAV
Abstract
Endurance is the critical problem that most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will definitely encounter. By learning frombirds in nature that perch to reserve energy, however, this problem could probably be solved. The purposes of this paper are to gain inspiration from bird’s perching in a more systematic way, to further propose a design of bio-inspired adaptive perching mechanism, and to investigate its functionality and reliability in applications. Principles are first derived from anatomy analysis of perching birds as a guide. The perching sequence of a UAV is then generalized into 3 stages, namely pre-perching, perching and de-perching. Design specifications are presented, reliability experiments are performed and results are analyzed.
Cite this article as:
W. Chi, K. Low, K. Hoon, J. Tang, and T. Go, “A Bio-Inspired Adaptive Perching Mechanism for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,” J. Robot. Mechatron., Vol.24 No.4, pp. 642-648, 2012.
Data files:
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