Emergent technology often draws inspiration from pre-existing contexts. Take for example, the Swincar Spider, a buggy style electric car, which utilizes four separate motors for each wheel to allow it to run like spider legs. Now the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the government agency responsible for developing technologies for military use, has decided to implement the same tactic by attaching robotic, dragonfly inspired insect legs onto the bottom of a helicopter.
REPURPOSING DRAGONFLY LEGS FOR A HELICOPTER
The “legs,” which are articulated like those of an actual dragonfly, permit the drone chopper to perform “incredibly difficult and highly dangerous” feats that a standard helicopter would not be able to carry out, according to Geek.
The project is part of the Mission Adaptive Rotor (MAR) program, currently focused on developing “morphing rotor technology” to be used across various domains. In this case, the chopper can be used for militaristic purposes as well as for more practical applications, such as during the event of a natural disaster. The device is optimized to land on uneven surfaces, thanks, in part, to an integrated sensor array, which prompts the legs to adjust itself to a given terrain. Landings and takes offs, as a result, are extremely smooth.
Standard helicopters generally need to land on flat surfaces to prevent the spinning, high-speed rotor from accidentally striking an object. The new system, however, will offer stable landing opportunities, even on sloping terrain of up to 20 degrees. The benefits of this ability are countless: pilots, for example, could land their helicopters on ships despite violent sea conditions.
“The equipment—mounted on an otherwise unmodified, unmanned helicopter—successfully demonstrated the ability to land and take off from terrain that would be impossible to operate from with standard landing gear,” stated Ashish Bagai, DARPA program manager.
The project is currently being developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology, and if funded by the Mission Adaptive Rotor (MAR) program.
For more information about the MAR landing gear, check out the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip_WqX8nmKY
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DARPA Attaches Insect Legs to a Drone Helicopter
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