Finding Structure Configurations for Flying Modular Robots

Abstract

Flying Modular Structures offer a versatile mechanism that can change the arrangement of constituent actuators according to task requirements. In this work, we extend a modular aerial platform that can expand its actuation capabilities depending on the configuration. Each module is composed of a quadrotor in a cage that can rigidly connect with other modules. The quadrotor is connected with the cage by a revolute joint that allows it to rotate with respect to the cage. Modules located in the structure are either parallel or perpendicular to one another. The task specification defines forces and moments needed during the execution. We propose two search methods to find a configuration that can satisfy the specification. The first approach consists of an exhaustive search that yields optimal structure configurations by exploring the whole search space. The second approach proposes a heuristic based on subgroup search, reducing the problem complexity from exponential to linear. We validate our proposed algorithms with several simulations. Our results show that the proposed heuristic is computationally efficient and finds a near-optimal configuration even for flying modular structures composed of a large number of modules.