Abstract
Aerial robots are evolving from avoiding obstacles to exploiting the environmental contact interactions for navigation, exploration and manipulation. A key challenge in such aerial physical interactions lies in handling uncertain contact forces on unknown targets, which typically demand accurate sensing and active control. We present a drone platform with elastic horns that enables touch-and-go manoeuvres - a self-regulated, consecutive bumping motion that allows the drone to maintain proximity to a wall without relying on active obstacle avoidance. It leverages environmental interaction as a form of embodied control, where low-level stabilisation and near-obstacle navigation emerge from the passive dynamic responses of the drone-obstacle system that resembles a mass-spring-damper system. Experiments show that the elastic horn can absorb impact energy while maintaining vehicle stability, reducing pitch oscillations by 38% compared to the rigid horn configuration. The lower horn arrangement was found to reduce pitch oscillations by approximately 54%. In addition to intermittent contact, the platform equipped with elastic horns also demonstrates stable, sustained contact with static objects, relying on a standard attitude PID controller.
Abstract (translated)
空中机器人正从避障进化为利用环境接触交互来进行导航、探索和操作。此类物理互动中的一个关键挑战在于处理在未知目标上不确定的接触力，这通常需要准确的感应和主动控制。我们介绍了一种装有弹性触角的无人机平台，它能够执行“触碰与前进”的机动动作——这是一种自我调节、连续碰撞运动方式，允许无人机不依赖于主动避障就能保持靠近墙壁的位置。该平台利用环境互动作为嵌入式控制的一种形式，在这种情况下，低级稳定和接近障碍物导航源自类似质量-弹簧-阻尼系统的无人机-障碍物系统被动动态响应。 实验表明，弹性触角可以在吸收冲击能量的同时维持车辆稳定性，相比刚性触角配置，可将俯仰摆动减少38%。较低位置安装的触角被发现可以将俯仰摆动大约减少54%。除了间歇接触之外，装有弹性触角的平台还展示了与静态物体稳定、持续接触的能力，并且依靠标准的姿态PID控制器来实现这一点。
URL
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.18976
