Quadrolltor: A Reconfigurable Quadrotor With Controlled Rolling and Turning

Abstract

This letter reports an aerial robot–Quadrolltor, with the ability to roll and turn. Existing bimodal quadrotors feature cylindrical rolling cages that are rotationally decoupled from the robot's main rigid body. In contrast, the proposed robot employs passively reconfigurable structures to enable the second mode of locomotion, tightly coupling the attitude of the robot to the rolling cage. The benefits are precise rolling and turning control as well as improved rolling efficiency. Experiments were conducted to comprehensively validate the hybrid locomotion. The robot leveraged the superior maneuverability in the rolling mode to take photos of the surroundings at different tilting and panning angles to construct a panoramic image. Besides, the results of the power measurements show a significant reduction in the cost of transport brought by at low speed, equating to a 15-fold extension in the operational range.