Self-assembling Modular Aerial Robot for Versatile Aerial Tasks
Fuente:
arXiv
Salvato in:
| Autori principali: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2026
|
| Soggetti: | |
| Accesso online: | |
| Tags: |
Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
|
| _version_ | 1866917510254690304 |
|---|---|
| author | Sugihara, Junichiro Kitagawa, Masaki Li, Jinjie Li, Yunong Nishio, Takuzumi Okada, Kei Zhao, Moju |
| author_facet | Sugihara, Junichiro Kitagawa, Masaki Li, Jinjie Li, Yunong Nishio, Takuzumi Okada, Kei Zhao, Moju |
| contents | Multirotor aerial robots excel at maneuvering in three-dimensional space, and recent advances enable nimble navigation in cluttered and confined environments, especially for small airframes. By contrast, platforms built for high-altitude work tend to be larger to deliver high thrust for stable physical interaction with the environment. However, these conflicting design requirements create a long-standing trade-off between nimble navigation and robust aerial manipulation. Here, we present LEGION units, which are reconfigurable modular aerial robots capable of in-flight self-assembly for cooperative manipulation, drawing inspiration from the self-organized collectives formed by ants. Each unit retains nimble maneuverability while joint-equipped docking interfaces at both ends enable end-to-end self-assembly into a flying manipulator. We show that multiple units autonomously dock in flight; once latched, they maintain a zero-clearance interlock by controlling the contact force and torque, enabling reliable aggregation and articulated motion even outdoors. We further show that self-reconfigurability enables morphological switching between nimble individual flight and collective articulated manipulation, while realizing core in-flight manipulation primitives including pushing, pulling, rotating, grasping, and carrying. LEGION's self-organization enables aerial robots, especially in swarms, to shift from passive observers to active participants in their environment, broadening the scope of aerial physical interaction. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_19431 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Self-assembling Modular Aerial Robot for Versatile Aerial Tasks Sugihara, Junichiro Kitagawa, Masaki Li, Jinjie Li, Yunong Nishio, Takuzumi Okada, Kei Zhao, Moju Robotics Multirotor aerial robots excel at maneuvering in three-dimensional space, and recent advances enable nimble navigation in cluttered and confined environments, especially for small airframes. By contrast, platforms built for high-altitude work tend to be larger to deliver high thrust for stable physical interaction with the environment. However, these conflicting design requirements create a long-standing trade-off between nimble navigation and robust aerial manipulation. Here, we present LEGION units, which are reconfigurable modular aerial robots capable of in-flight self-assembly for cooperative manipulation, drawing inspiration from the self-organized collectives formed by ants. Each unit retains nimble maneuverability while joint-equipped docking interfaces at both ends enable end-to-end self-assembly into a flying manipulator. We show that multiple units autonomously dock in flight; once latched, they maintain a zero-clearance interlock by controlling the contact force and torque, enabling reliable aggregation and articulated motion even outdoors. We further show that self-reconfigurability enables morphological switching between nimble individual flight and collective articulated manipulation, while realizing core in-flight manipulation primitives including pushing, pulling, rotating, grasping, and carrying. LEGION's self-organization enables aerial robots, especially in swarms, to shift from passive observers to active participants in their environment, broadening the scope of aerial physical interaction. |
| title | Self-assembling Modular Aerial Robot for Versatile Aerial Tasks |
| topic | Robotics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.19431 |