In context
By mid-2025, cross-domain robots that traverse both ground and air were typically built by simply bolting together separate wheeled and flying modules, leading to bulky designs with limited impact resilience. Researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology sought a more integrated approach, leveraging tensegrity structures—known for their lightweight strength and flexibility—to create a single platform capable of seamless multimodal locomotion.
What was reported
The team proposed a robot combining a deformable six-bar tensegrity shell with a four-axis, eight-rotor UAV. The tensegrity shell, whose tensioned cables can be actively controlled, serves dual purposes: in flight mode, it acts as a protective cage that reduces collision damage; in ground mode, it deforms to enable rolling locomotion.
Control is handled by a rule-based controller for rolling and a PID controller for flight, allowing the robot to switch between modes flexibly. The design emphasizes deep integration of the ground and flight modules rather than simple assembly, aiming to improve structural stability and environmental adaptability.
Experiments validated the robot's multimodal capabilities, demonstrating successful ground rolling, stable flight, and transitions between the two modes. The work builds on prior modeling of six-bar tensegrity robots using the port-Hamiltonian framework and joint terrestrial-aerial path planning.
Why it mattered
This research offered a new template for cross-domain robot design, showing that tensegrity shells can provide both protection and locomotion, potentially leading to more durable and versatile robots for inspection, search-and-rescue, and other tasks in cluttered or hazardous environments where impact resistance is critical.
By controlling the tension of the tensioned ropes, the shell provides protection for the drone in flight mode, while adjusts its shape to enable rolling in ground mode.
Source: 《机器人》期刊 (robot.sia.cn) · Published 2025-06-09 · “张拉整体跨域机器人的设计与控制”