Soft Arm-Motor Thrust Characterization for a Pneumatically Actuated Soft Morphing Quadrotor

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Sumathy, Vidya, Haluska, Jakub, Nikolakopoulos, George
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Sumathy, Vidya
Haluska, Jakub
Nikolakopoulos, George
author_facet Sumathy, Vidya
Haluska, Jakub
Nikolakopoulos, George
contents In this work, an experimental characterization of the configuration space of a soft, pneumatically actuated morphing quadrotor is presented, with a focus on precise thrust characterization of its flexible arms, considering the effect of downwash. Unlike traditional quadrotors, the soft drone has pneumatically actuated arms, introducing complex, nonlinear interactions between motor thrust and arm deformation, which make precise control challenging. The silicone arms are actuated using differential pressure to achieve flexibility and thus have a variable workspace compared to their fixed counter-parts. The deflection of the soft arms during compression and expansion is controlled throughout the flight. However, in real time, the downwash from the motor attached at the tip of the soft arm generates a significant and random disturbance on the arm. This disturbance affects both the desired deflection of the arm and the overall stability of the system. To address this factor, an experimental characterization of the effect of downwash on the deflection angle of the arm is conducted.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_12716
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Soft Arm-Motor Thrust Characterization for a Pneumatically Actuated Soft Morphing Quadrotor
Sumathy, Vidya
Haluska, Jakub
Nikolakopoulos, George
Robotics
Systems and Control
In this work, an experimental characterization of the configuration space of a soft, pneumatically actuated morphing quadrotor is presented, with a focus on precise thrust characterization of its flexible arms, considering the effect of downwash. Unlike traditional quadrotors, the soft drone has pneumatically actuated arms, introducing complex, nonlinear interactions between motor thrust and arm deformation, which make precise control challenging. The silicone arms are actuated using differential pressure to achieve flexibility and thus have a variable workspace compared to their fixed counter-parts. The deflection of the soft arms during compression and expansion is controlled throughout the flight. However, in real time, the downwash from the motor attached at the tip of the soft arm generates a significant and random disturbance on the arm. This disturbance affects both the desired deflection of the arm and the overall stability of the system. To address this factor, an experimental characterization of the effect of downwash on the deflection angle of the arm is conducted.
title Soft Arm-Motor Thrust Characterization for a Pneumatically Actuated Soft Morphing Quadrotor
topic Robotics
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.12716