2023-08-24 15:00:00
Japanese engineers have created a unified mounting and control system that allows small drones to be assembled into a larger one in flight. An original idea with techniques inspired by those of in-flight refueling aircraft.
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It’s an open secret, but like humans, small drones have advantages that big ones don’t and vice versa. In other words, a small drone will not be able to lift much other than itself, but it will be lively, fast, very maneuverable. It will also have the ability to get in everywhere. As for the large drone, it will be able to carry a larger payload, but will be more difficult to take off and its evolution around structures will be much more clumsy and slow.
To find the right size for a defined purpose, why not assemble as many small drones as needed to get a big one? This is the solution chosen by engineers from theUniversity of Tokyo in Japan. Their drone prototypes are capable of coming together or coming apart in mid-flight. With this ability, it is then possible to introduce several small drones via the interstice of a building, to assemble them once inside it in order to carry out tasks requiring a larger drone. Similarly, a large drone can be divided into several medium-sized units to spread over several spaces.
Unity of drones is strength
In the experiment, these were small quadricopters, but which had the particularity of having a male or female fixing system so that they might fit together. This docking process is directly inspired by the in-flight refueling systems used by the air forces. As with the refueling poles, a small funnel is located on one side of the mechanism to easily correct alignment errors. To secure the connection of drones, coupling systems in the form of magnets that can be activated or not are also available.
The on-board computer allows each of the devices to communicate its position to the others so that they can connect. For the moment, the researchers have contented themselves with assembling only two drones in flight, but they believe that it is possible to replicate the system. To ensure their control, the scientists developed two processes: a distributed control system that allows each unit to operate independently and another that makes them work together when they are assembled.
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