Morphing Flying Drones to the Rescue
Drone Innovation Source: UZH Foldable, Highly Agile Drones for Search and Rescue Researchers at the University of Zurich have invented a new drone that can retract its propeller arms in flight. That makes it small enough to pass through holes and small gaps in disaster areas and engulfed buildings to spot people in need of rescue. Typical existing drones are too large to have this kind of access. Inspired by Birds This innovation was inspired by the flight of birds. Birds fold their wings to fly through narrow spaces. The Swiss drone does the same and then returns to its previous shape. There's a camera mounted to the main frame, It has a 'T' shape to bring it as close as possible to objects it needs to inspect. Morphing Drone This is a morphing drone that's very versatile and autonomous with onboard perception and control systems. It's a quadrotor with 4 propellers that rotate independently. Their mounted on mobile arms that can...