Design and Implementation of Cloud-Like Soft Drone S-Cloud

Abstract

This study presents a new drone, called S-CLOUD, developed for safe and long flight time. It provides 3-axial (x, y, and z)translational motion and stable hovering for more than an hour after takeoff. S-CLOUD consists of two parts; soft blimp part and driving one. The soft blimp is a center-pierced torus-shaped part filled with Helium gas. Thus, it is safe to fly near people because it is light and soft, and all its rotating parts are at the center of the vehicle, which does not get damaged on collision. The driving part is plugged into the center of the soft blimp and includes the flow control mechanism, which consists of co-axial rotors and 2-axis crossed flaps. It controls the altitude, attitude, and translational movements of the vehicle. Its dynamic and reaction features against disturbances are derived using Newton-Euler formulation, and the simulation results are discussed. Finally, a prototype of S-CLOUD is fabricated and its feasibility is experimentally validated with practical applications.