http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/321980465

Performance of a Hopping Rotochute

Future military operations will rely much more heavily on robotic systems to perform a variety of missions. Ultimately, the success of these robots lies in the basic robot configuration being properly tailored to the intended application. A new hybrid micro vehicle configuration, called a hopping rotochute has been created. The hopping rotochute configuration is optimized to operate within small interior spaces. The vehicle is propelled upward by a small rotor that is powered in short bursts so the vehicle hops into the air under power and then falls to the ground when unpowered. The mass properties and exterior shape of the main body of the vehicle are designed to be self-righting so no matter what orientation the vehicle lands it always rotates into its nominal position once on the ground. To control the direction of movement of the vehicle, an internal mass is rotated around the perimeter of the body to tilt the main body in the desired direction before a given launch. Performance of this new vehicle has been predicted with a dynamic simulation model with good results. A prototype hopping rotochute has been constructed and flight tested in the Georgia Tech Indoor Flight Facility.

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