Here’s a fixed-wing drone that can land on a vertical surface, clinging like a bat.
Developed by the University of Sherbrooke in Canada, the little drone can adjust the thrust from its wings like a bird in order to avoid stalling out just before it touches the vertical wall. Other researchers have enabled quadcopter drones to perch using spiny legs, or switching from fixed-wing to hover mode. Sherbrooke’s Multimodal Autonomous Drone (S-MAD) also uses spiny feet, but its approach to the wall is inspired by the way birds land, using the propeller for thrust and a laser rangefinder and other sensors to approach the target point with precision. It’s capable of changing positions as needed, and could be useful for inspection or construction purposes.
