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Hauptverfasser: Tang, Jerry, Zhang, Ruiqi, Beyduz, Kaan, Jiang, Yiwei, Wiebe, Cody, Zhang, Haoyu, Asoro, Osaruese, Mueller, Mark W.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.13836
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author Tang, Jerry
Zhang, Ruiqi
Beyduz, Kaan
Jiang, Yiwei
Wiebe, Cody
Zhang, Haoyu
Asoro, Osaruese
Mueller, Mark W.
author_facet Tang, Jerry
Zhang, Ruiqi
Beyduz, Kaan
Jiang, Yiwei
Wiebe, Cody
Zhang, Haoyu
Asoro, Osaruese
Mueller, Mark W.
contents This paper presents Duawlfin, a drone with unified actuation for wheeled locomotion and flight operation that achieves efficient, bidirectional ground mobility. Unlike existing hybrid designs, Duawlfin eliminates the need for additional actuators or propeller-driven ground propulsion by leveraging only its standard quadrotor motors and introducing a differential drivetrain with one-way bearings. This innovation simplifies the mechanical system, significantly reduces energy usage, and prevents the disturbance caused by propellers spinning near the ground, such as dust interference with sensors. Besides, the one-way bearings minimize the power transfer from motors to propellers in the ground mode, which enables the vehicle to operate safely near humans. We provide a detailed mechanical design, present control strategies for rapid and smooth mode transitions, and validate the concept through extensive experimental testing. Flight-mode tests confirm stable aerial performance comparable to conventional quadcopters, while ground-mode experiments demonstrate efficient slope climbing (up to 30°) and agile turning maneuvers approaching 1g lateral acceleration. The seamless transitions between aerial and ground modes further underscore the practicality and effectiveness of our approach for applications like urban logistics and indoor navigation. All the materials including 3-D model files, demonstration video and other assets are open-sourced at https://sites.google.com/view/Duawlfin.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_13836
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Duawlfin: A Drone with Unified Actuation for Wheeled Locomotion and Flight Operation
Tang, Jerry
Zhang, Ruiqi
Beyduz, Kaan
Jiang, Yiwei
Wiebe, Cody
Zhang, Haoyu
Asoro, Osaruese
Mueller, Mark W.
Robotics
This paper presents Duawlfin, a drone with unified actuation for wheeled locomotion and flight operation that achieves efficient, bidirectional ground mobility. Unlike existing hybrid designs, Duawlfin eliminates the need for additional actuators or propeller-driven ground propulsion by leveraging only its standard quadrotor motors and introducing a differential drivetrain with one-way bearings. This innovation simplifies the mechanical system, significantly reduces energy usage, and prevents the disturbance caused by propellers spinning near the ground, such as dust interference with sensors. Besides, the one-way bearings minimize the power transfer from motors to propellers in the ground mode, which enables the vehicle to operate safely near humans. We provide a detailed mechanical design, present control strategies for rapid and smooth mode transitions, and validate the concept through extensive experimental testing. Flight-mode tests confirm stable aerial performance comparable to conventional quadcopters, while ground-mode experiments demonstrate efficient slope climbing (up to 30°) and agile turning maneuvers approaching 1g lateral acceleration. The seamless transitions between aerial and ground modes further underscore the practicality and effectiveness of our approach for applications like urban logistics and indoor navigation. All the materials including 3-D model files, demonstration video and other assets are open-sourced at https://sites.google.com/view/Duawlfin.
title Duawlfin: A Drone with Unified Actuation for Wheeled Locomotion and Flight Operation
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.13836