Swiss engineers have developed an aircraft-style unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that does not require a runway. All the robotic UAV needs are poles or trees to cling to with its flexible wings like a bat or an owl.
Image source: Nature
Inspired by the agility of bats and owls, researchers from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland equipped the drone with dual-purpose articulated wings that can be either rigid for flight or flexible for gripping support.
Weighing just 550 grams, the PercHug features a “curved nose design” that helps it automatically assume an upright position when it detects an obstacle. Contact with an obstacle simultaneously weakens the tension cable, activating a spring mechanism that unfolds the wings around the support, explains The Verge, citing an article by scientists published in the journal Nature.
Image source: Nature
The PercHug’s unique design eliminates traditional landing mechanisms, making it lighter while still increasing its potential payload and range. In testing, the PercHug achieved a 73% successful landing rate on trees and poles after a short glide. However, before UAVs can be used to host expensive equipment such as sensors and cameras, the success rate of landings must be improved, the developers acknowledge.
Image source: Nature
Currently, the PercHug is simply a hand-launched glider with no control system. In the future, scientists plan to equip it with an electronic flight navigation system and control sensors, and also develop a mechanism that allows it to independently detach from its support to continue flight. The glider could potentially be used to monitor the environment, conduct infrastructure inspections and perform rescue operations in hard-to-reach places.