Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have created ATMO (Aerially Transforming Morphobot), a robot that can switch between being a flying machine and a wheeled vehicle while it’s in the air. This ability greatly increases what the robot can do.
ATMO weighs 5.5 kilograms, and when its arms are stretched out, it’s 65 centimeters wide. The main new idea in ATMO is how it lands. Its propeller wheels are almost completely folded up when it lands, which stops them from getting stuck on rough ground. A central motor and a single hinge control the position of the propellers to achieve this.
However, this design makes flying more complicated. When the angle of the propellers changes and when air bounces off the ground, the robot needs to instantly adjust its power. To deal with this, the researchers developed a special computer program that constantly controls how the motors work.
Once ATMO lands, it can drive around on the ground. Two belt systems turn the wheels, and a differential gear system changes the speed of each wheel for turning. This technology makes it possible to build robots that can work in places where regular flying robots or wheeled robots wouldn’t be very useful.