Robots fly and drive to join up for tough outdoor tasks
Fly, Drive, Reconfigure: A Modular Reconfigurable Aerial-Ground Platform for Field Operations
Robotics
Summary
Robots often have fixed jobs, but this paper shows a team of small flying and driving robots that can connect and work together in new ways during a mission. The robots scout an area by flying, pick the best path and travel mode to save energy, then attach to form one vehicle to carry heavy gear on the ground. The system, called HARP, was tested in outdoor experiments including icy terrain, showing how robots can change their shape and roles to better handle difficult environments. This approach could make remote monitoring and sampling in hard-to-reach places easier and more efficient.
What this means in practice
- •For field robotics teams: Coordinate flying and driving robot modules that can connect to carry heavy sensors in rough outdoor environments.
- •For environmental monitoring teams: Deploy adaptable robot teams that can scout, plan, and transport equipment autonomously in remote, difficult terrain.
Authors
Li-Yu Lo, Yanbaihui Liu, Chengchuan Shu, Tyler Harris, Jonathan Ryan, Boyuan Chen
Abstract
Heterogeneous robot teams distribute complementary capabilities across specialized agents, but their physical roles and capacities typically remain fixed throughout a mission. We present HARP, a Heterogeneous Aerial Robotic modules Platform in which independently deployable aerial robots physically reconfigure to compose their capabilities for field operations. HARP comprises sensor-equipped scouts, flydrive rover modules, and task-specific payload modules. Scouts map the environment and inform an energy-aware planner that jointly selects routes and air-ground mobility modes. Rover and payload modules fly independently across terrain that constrains ground travel, then autonomously assemble into a cooperative ground vehicle for energy-efficient payload transport. Motivated by environmental sampling in remote and difficult-to-traverse regions, we evaluate HARP through field experiments spanning sensing, planning, reconfiguration, airground mobility, payload transport, and task execution. We further conduct module-level deployment tests on the Greenland Ice Sheet toward future autonomous missions. HARP demonstrates how heterogeneous robot teams can adapt not only their actions, but also how their physical capabilities are composed during a mission.