Voxelcopter: Modular Autonomous Aerial Systems
Name
3623263.3629155.pdf
Size
1.47 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
6728a1b1a4ee9142c40ecd279ec61f24
Author(s)
Wang, Sophia
Smith, Miana
Gershenfeld, Neil
Date Issued
October 8, 2023
Publisher
ACM|Symposium on Computational Fabrication
Citation
Wang, Sophia, Smith, Miana and Gershenfeld, Neil. 2023. "Voxelcopter: Modular Autonomous Aerial Systems."
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Different unmanned aerial system (UAS) applications, such as military reconnaissance, environmental monitoring, or commercial delivery, require different specifications such as payload weight and travel range, which typically require completely different designs. This means that it is difficult, if not impossible, to easily reconfigure an existing UAS for a new application without the redesign and reconstruction of the system. To facilitate easy reconfiguration of UAS, we present Voxelcopter, a modular construction kit for the rapid-prototyping and rapid assembly of multicopter UAS. We develop basic viable components for flight, including reconfigurable building blocks, termed functional voxels, that assemble into high-stiffness, lightweight structures with integrated power and data, a custom flight controller software library, propellers, and power storage. In this demo, a quadcopter is assembled, and we flight test the resulting vehicle, then disassemble it into components ready for reuse, demonstrating the easy reconfigurability of the system.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Bits and Atoms
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1145/3623263.3629155
