Overview
A standard multirotor can only push in the direction its rotors point, which forces awkward whole-body pitching whenever it needs to press against a surface. This project reworks the airframe itself so it can tilt independently of the flight-control attitude — letting the vehicle keep stable, controlled contact with a wall, ceiling, or pipe from almost any approach angle.
Combined with an onboard aerial manipulator, the tiltable frame became the base for omnidirectional aerial manipulation and infrastructure-inspection demonstrations, was shown as an ICRA 2024 expo exhibit, and continues to inform newer sideward-thruster and wall-contact concepts.
Video
Video coming soon