Who is VertiGo?
VertiGo is a wall-climbing robot that is capable of transitioning from the ground to the wall, created in collaboration between Disney Research Zurich and ETH. The robot has two tiltable propellers that provide thrust onto the wall, and four wheels. One pair of wheels is steerable, and each propeller has two degrees of freedom for adjusting the direction of thrust.
By transitioning from the ground to a wall and back again, VertiGo extends the ability of robots to travel through urban and indoor environments. The robot is able to move on a wall quickly and with agility. The use of propellers to provide thrust onto the wall ensures that the robot is able to traverse over indentations such as masonry.
The choice of two propellers rather than one enables a floor to wall transition – thrust is applied both towards the wall using the rear propeller, and in an upward direction using the front propeller, resulting in a flip onto the wall.
Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9P9_QM8cN8
Source:
https://www.disneyresearch.com/publication/vertigo/
#robos #vertigo #disneyresearch
It is amazing technology. Reminds me of the F1 tech from the late 70s fan car era. The Brabham BT46B, designed by Gordon Murray, could generate similar downforce (minus the transition ability) with a full sized race car using a giant fan and side skirts to create a vacuum: https://youtu.be/pukIEuzgd3U
ReplyDeleteUltimately the concept was scrapped, primarily because A: the level of grip could kill a human driver and B: driving behind a giant hair dryer blowing every bit of dust and gravel from the road at your face was not pleasant.
Still, I'd love to see what would be possible if the concepts were merged.
Happy New Year by the way!
Scaled down, that would make a great toy ;-)
ReplyDeleteBrian Kemper
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! thanks for all your nice photos & also danke for the above info ;)
That's awesome!
ReplyDeleteQuick, let's put the tinfoil on, and start conspiring! :D
ReplyDeleteSo you're saying this is what happens when you mate a quad copter with a rover drone?
ReplyDelete