Soft Aerial Robotics

Aerial robotics has become a key enabler of industrial automation and environmental interaction tasks with applications ranging from environmental sensing in forests, over water sampling in lakes to industrial manufacturing and repair. Most aerial robots however are rigid in structure and rely on accurate state estimation and controlled sensor-actuator loops to perform the tasks and navigate through the environment. Natural flyers on the other hand rely not just on flight control but also on smart and adaptive materials to expand their operational flight envelope and to increase the functionality of their wings allowing them to display an impressive range of skills. Recently, the robotics community has started to employ adaptive morphologies, smart materials and soft robotics methods in aerial robotics with the promise of achieving higher levels of system resilience and adaptation to complex or changing environments. In this talk I will present how animal-inspired soft robot design methods can greatly enhance aerial robotics capabilities and how adaptive morphologies and functional materials can be co-evolved in tandem with aerial robotic embodiments. The talk will also include application examples of such soft aerial robots placing sensors in forests, collecting water samples autonomously or landing on wind turbines to perform construction and repair tasks.