Technology

The main objective of the AIRobots platform design process is to develop aerial prototypes which meet basic engineering principles in terms of expandability and flexibility. The general architecture is constituted by three layers: the first, forming the Basic Aerial Robot, is given by the airframe and avionics platform; the second, denoted by Basic Aerial Service Robot, characterizes the aerial platform in which the standard equipment for Aerial Service Robots such as the localization and navigation system and the manipulation system (contact/force sensors and mechanisms, etc.) are included in order to allow the vehicle to perform its basic operations in un-structured environments. The last layer, denoted by Application Specific Aerial Service Robot, frames the final platform customized for the inspection applications of the end-user involved in the project.

The work-plan is characterized by the development of three ducted-fan and three coaxial prototypes (see the page about Mechanics), the first pair of which will be available at month 10 (November 2010), the second at month 20 (September 2011), and the last at month 30 (July 2012). The idea is to validate, from an experimental view point, the subsequent expansion of the AIRobots step-by-step and to converge towards the final prototype, which meets the end-user expectation, in a smooth way.