May 26, 2015VelociRoACH gets a job as an aircraft carrier

The VelociRoACH carrying a H2Bird before take off

In nature, you're not likely to ever see a bird get a piggyback ride from a cockroach and then take off from its back. But in the world of bio-inspired robotics, such things can and do happen. Researchers from the UC Berkeley's Biomimetic Millisystems Lab have successfully demonstrated a cooperative launching system that puts a lightweight ornithopter on the back of its VelociRoACH robotic carpet crawler for a short run before the H2Bird takes to the air.

The Lab's 10-cm (4-in) long, 32 g (1.1 oz) six-legged robot roach has a top speed of 2.7 meters per second (which is quick, but not the fastest roach at Berkeley, that honor is reserved for the X2 version of the VelociRoACH – which can be seen in this video) and is capable of carrying a payload of up to 120 g (4.2 oz). The brains of the beast are represented by an ImageProc 2.5 micro-controller that's home to a microprocessor, IEEE 802.15.4 radio and motor drivers. It has two brushed DC motors in separate gear boxes to independently drive the legs.

The 13.2 g (0.47 oz) H2Bird micro-aerial vehicle features an ImageProc 2.4 controller and the power train from an i-Bird RC flying bird. Its roughly bird-like shape is made of clear plastic stretched over a carbon fiber-reinforced frame, with a wing span of 26.5 cm (10.4 in). It flaps its four wings for take off and flight and is able to stay aloft for about 2.5 minutes before its 90 mAh battery needs topping up. The tail rotor keeps yaw in check while a servo-driven elevator takes care of pitch.

After conducting tests to determine the precise angle of attack and velocity needed to get the bird in the air, the roach was fitted with a special launch cradle, higher at the front than at the back, and test runs conducted. You can see the results in the video below.

With the robotic flapper on its back, the VelociRoACH motors were found to use up to 24.5 percent more power. But just having the bird in its cradle resulted in the ambulating carrier bot running with more stability, reducing the variance in pitch and roll velocity by as much as 90 percent. The researchers also discovered that having the bird flap its wings slightly while being carried helped increase the average velocity of the robot roach by 12.7 percent.

The roboticists intend to continue the cooperative launching experiments with the aim of getting the bird to take off without human intervention.

Source: Biomimetic Millisystems Lab

VelociRoACH得到一份飞机载具的工作

VelociRoACH得到一份工作作为航空器carrier

的VelociRoACH背着H2Bird才起飞

在自然界中，你不可能永远看见一只鸟从得到一个背着蟑螂，然后从它的后面起飞。但在仿生机器人的世界里，这样的事情可能而且确实发生。来自加州大学伯克利分校的仿生Millisystems实验室的研究人员已经成功地展示了一个合作发射系统，使一个轻量级的扑翼机在其VelociRoACH机器人地毯履带背面的一个短期内H2Bird采用空气之前，

实验室的10厘米（4 -in）长，32克（1.1盎司）六腿机器人蟑螂具有每秒执行270米的最高速度（这是快，但不是最快的蟑螂伯克利分校，这个荣誉是保留给VelociRoACH的X2版本 - 它可以在该视频中可以看出），并能够承载多达120克（4.2盎司）的有效载荷的。兽的大脑是由一个ImageProc 2.5微控制器，这是家庭对微处理器，IEEE 802.15.4无线电设备和电机驱动器为代表。它在单独的齿轮箱2刷直流电机独立地驱动腿部。

的13.2克（0.47盎司）H2Bird微型飞行器设有ImageProc 2.4控制器和从一个i-伯德RC飞鸟动力系。其大致鸟状是由透明塑料绷在碳纤维增强型框架，以26.5厘米（10.4）翼展。它扇动它的四个翅膀起飞和飞行，并能之前，其90毫安时电池需要补足，以在空中停留约2.5分钟。该尾桨保持偏航在检查的同时伺服驱动的电梯照顾间距。

后进行测试，以确定攻击，需要得到在空中的飞鸟速度的精确的角度，蟑螂上装上特别推出的摇篮，在前面比在后面，并测试运行进行更高。你可以看到结果在下面的视频。

在其背面的机器人插板，在VelociRoACH电机被发现使用多达24.5％的功率。但是，仅仅有在摇篮鸟导致走动载体机器人更稳定的运行，高达90％降低俯仰和滚转速度的变化。研究人员还发现，有鸟儿拍打翅膀稍稍同时进行帮助12.7％提高机器人蟑螂的平均速度。

的机器人专家打算继续合作开展实验，让鸟起飞未经目的