One of the big problems with drones, especially when we are starting out, is that they are not very resistant to shocks, something that on the one hand frightens us while, on the other, we cannot avoid. This is a problem that they have wanted to solve in the National Center or Competence in Research Robotics in collaboration with Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (Switzerland) by creating a quadcopter resistant to all kinds of collisions and blows.
Among the most peculiar and interesting characteristics of this drone resistant to 'thumps'highlight, for example, that it has been endowed with a elastic frame joined by a series of magnets, a rather peculiar solution as well as effective and, at least aesthetically, much more attractive to those kinds of cages or protective shells made with hard materials that, sometimes, give more problems than solutions.
This drone can take any type of hit, it assembles itself in less than a second.
Going into a little more detail, the very special frame that this drone has has been manufactured in 0,3mm thick fiberglass, enough so that, at the same time as structural rigidity, it can offer some elasticity. This frame has been installed on a solid core where the battery and electronic components are located. This structure is attached to the frame through a series of magnets that allow the frame to separate in case of impact.
During the tests carried out on the product, it was possible to see how the drone was launched from different heights and even hit several very different obstacles. The result, after more than 50 strokes, was that in all of them the drone reassembled itself in less than a second. According to the developers of this project, this design is not only useful to be used in drones of all kinds, but also in robotics.