Minimizing the Risk: Mechano-Aerodynamics and Control of Soft-Structured Drones, and Application to Collision-Resilient Flying Robots

• Project/Area Number: 24KK0082
• Research Category: Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (International Collaborative Research)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 20:Mechanical dynamics, robotics, and related fields
• Research Institution: Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Ho Anhvan 北陸先端科学技術大学院大学, 先端科学技術研究科, 准教授 (60757508)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): NGUYEN HuuNhan 北陸先端科学技術大学院大学, 先端科学技術研究科, 助教 (80981159) ; 平井 慎一 立命館大学, 理工学部, 教授 (90212167)
• Project Period (FY): 2024-09-09 – 2028-03-31
• Project Status: Granted (Fiscal Year 2024)
• Budget Amount: ¥19,240,000 (Direct Cost: ¥14,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥4,440,000); Fiscal Year 2027: ¥2,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥660,000); Fiscal Year 2026: ¥4,940,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,140,000); Fiscal Year 2025: ¥8,060,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,860,000); Fiscal Year 2024: ¥3,380,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥780,000)
• Keywords: Soft Drones / Embodied Intelligence / L1 Adaptive Control

Outline of Research at the Start

In this project, we leverage the expertise from two domains: soft robotics (led by Ho's team) and agile drone control (led by Prof. Loianno's team at New York University), for promoting novel technology of soft drones, elucidating underlying mechano-aerodynamics, and applying it to develop resilient control technologies for the drones that can recover from in-air collisions.