From The Verge:
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania have created a bird-like claw that can be attached to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to enable it to pick up objects at high speed. Inspired by how an eagle uses its talons to grab prey, the team crafted a three-fingered claw using 3D printing and attached it to a 4-inch long motorized arm. The drone is able to use the system to pick up stationary objects flying at three meters (almost ten feet) per second.
In the future, the team wants its machine to be able to react automatically to environmental changes using an on-board camera. It hopes the camera will allow the drone to make in-flight adjustments when attempting a pickup. The researchers are also considering programming it to detect places where it can make a controlled landing and "perch" to cut down on noise and save energy.
(hat tip to Sonal for the link)
Comments
hey, that's cool.
An excellent use would be throwing back garbage.
Cool stuff! I wonder how well it would respond to an arbitrary approach speed vs a known one, as it appears to me that unless the claw is contact actuated and very fast it might well happen that the ball bounces out on contact.
On a less serious note, immagine how useful this would be for a golf court company! A few of these to clean up the greens :) = profit.
That is awesome! A bit frightening for the prey though ;)
Thumbs up to Randy! who has to deal with 10K+ winds on a sloping volcano to conduct his experiments! In the controlled environment of the lab the team of researchers make it look easy( I know a LOT went into it ) Very impressive snatch and grab with a trigger on contact locking mechanism. can the Quad put the object back on the pedestal just as fast? Are we looking at the Future? Down the road when more and more Quads start operating commercially will it be common place for Quads to fly in and pickup and release packages all autonomously.? What I found impressive in Randy's video his hex was if scaled would be the equivalent of picking up a freight train and he had a strong vertical component to keep it in the air when the rover released the hex jumped up and smoothed out .I keep seeing it over and over, From the Lab to the Little guy People here on DIY Drones actually"DO STUFF"! you Guys Have a Great Day!
Finally the GRASP lab is living up to their name.
Very Neat. Maybe Randy can use it to pickup his rover off the Japanese volcano.
o O
Wow! really cool stuff