Design and Fabrication of Morphing Drone

Abstract

This paper describes a novel quadcopter design that has the ability to morph i.e., change its shape. It uses rotary joints to quickly change the shape of its wings without the need for extra actuators. The normally rigid connections between the quadcopter's arms and its central body have been replaced with spring hinges that allow the arms to fold down when the propellers aren't generating close to maximum thrust. This makes the largest dimension of the drone about 50% smaller. The drone can change its size while it is flying, but to achieve this maneuver pilot must have solid grip over quadcopter controls. This makes it possible for the quadcopter can fit through gaps that a quadcopter that doesn't change size couldn't. The quadcopter is designed such that existing quadcopter controllers and algorithms for making and predicting trajectories can be used while also reducing the amount of time it takes to switch between configurations and fly with utmost stability