A novel hexapod robot design with flight capability

Abstract

Multicopter aircrafts are popular platforms for researching flight control and aerial image processing applications. These crafts could gain unique utility from the ability to fly to remote locations, land, then walk to perform close quarters operations in the area. This paper presents a novel hexapod-quadcopter design with multicopter flight hardware directly embedded in the hexapod legs. The robot is capable of terrestrial mobility as a hexapod and aerial mobility as a quadcopter. Aspects of the design are described along with pictures of the structural components, which were 3D printed.