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A robot helicopter capable of swooping onto a vertical incline and landing or perching in a tree is being developed at Georgia Tech.
"I'd like to enable fully vertical landings, followed by perching on something like a tree branch," said Eric Feron, an aerospace engineer at Georgia Tech who is developing the aircraft.
Some military helicopters can land on a slope of 20 degrees by touching down the front end of the landing gear and easing the back end to the surface. Feron's computer-controlled helicopters can adjust in the air to land both front and back skids simultaneously. He uses external cameras to track the aircraft from several angles.
In 2002, Feron developed an autonomous helicopter capable of performing other aerobatic moves, including the first 360-degree roll performed autonomously.
Feron said research on agile flight started in 1998. In 2001 the helicopter performed the first open-air, automated aerobatic maneuver and in 2007 he had the first near-vertical automated landing. The primary sponsors are the Navy and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
"Our research contributes to better understanding of the issues associated with landing in perilous conditions, such as landing onboard a ship," Feron said.
"I believe we must accept the idea that fully robotic birds will become available in the future, with the same level of agility and autonomy as actual birds," he said.
"This program is a fun way to train students toward becoming world-class roboticists and aerospace engineers," Feron said.
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