Soft Electroadhesive Feet for Micro Aerial Robots Perching on Smooth and Curved Surfaces
This work addresses the problem of reliable perching for micro aerial vehicles, though it is incremental as it builds on existing electroadhesion concepts with practical implementations.
The researchers tackled the challenge of enabling micro aerial robots to perch on smooth and curved surfaces by developing soft, stretchable electroadhesive pads, achieving shear adhesion forces up to 3 N and demonstrating repeatable attachment and detachment on various substrates.
Electroadhesion (EA) provides electrically switchable adhesion and is a promising mechanism for perching micro aerial robots on smooth surfaces. However, practical implementations of soft and stretchable EA pads for aerial perching remain limited. This work presents (i) an efficient workflow for fabricating soft, stretchable electroadhesive pads with sinusoidal wave and concentric-circle electrodes in multiple sizes, (ii) a controlled experimental comparison of normal and shear adhesion under inactive (0 kV) and active (4.8 kV) conditions using an Instron-based setup, and (iii) a perching demonstration using a Crazyflie quadrotor equipped with electroadhesive feet on flat and curved substrates. Experimental results show that shear adhesion dominates, reaching forces on the order of 3 N with partial pad contact, while normal adhesion is comparatively small and strongly dependent on substrate properties. The Crazyflie prototype demonstrates repeatable attachment on smooth plastic surfaces, including curved geometries, as well as rapid detachment when the voltage is removed. These results highlight the potential of soft electroadhesive feet for lightweight and reliable perching in micro aerial vehicles (MAVs).