The state of the experiment where three drones make a suspension bridge to utilize the drones also to the construction site is on sale

Deliver baggage by courierOrInvestigation of civil engineering construction and agriculture fieldTo helpAir race by radio controlWas held,DroneAlthough it has several problems, it is expected to be diverted to various uses. Meanwhile, the research team at Zurich Institute of Technology in Switzerland has succeeded in developing technology to create suspension bridges that people can actually pass by using drone.

Aerial Construction - Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control | ETH Zurich
http://www.idsc.ethz.ch/research-dandrea/research-projects/aerial-construction.html

In fact, three drones make a suspended bridge-like structure, and finally a movie has been created that people walk across.

Building a rope bridge with flying machines - YouTube


Drone with four rotors has appeared. Below the aircraft, a reel with a rope rolled up is attached.


"Bumping" jumped up, hovering near the scaffolding assembled with iron pipes. In the scaffold on the near side, two drone will work on the other side and one drone on the other side will do the work.


First of all, we created the basic structure of suspension bridge by saying "primary structure". Three drone started circling around the horizontal iron pipe.


In this way, the rope is wrapped around the pipe and fixed. This scaffolding catches the weight of the suspension bridgeAnchor blockIt seems to be used as.


Once one side of the rope is fixed to the anchor block, the drone flies toward the other anchor block, and the rope is wound and fixed in the same way. The rope has three layouts, the top two and the bottom one.


Attention is paid to the lower rope fixing method under the heaviest load. Instead of simply wrapping it around a pipe with a pipe, it is tightly wrapped around the cross, so that it will not unravel asleep even if it is applied.


Once the foundation structure is completed, next we will start creating "bracing structure" to reinforce the structure. First of all, two drones extend the rope from the top two ropes towards the bottom rope, and wrap it round and round.


With such a feeling it is wrapped around and fixed.


Next, move again to the upper rope ... ...


It wraps around and fixes it to the lower rope, and repeats the operation.


Creation of bracing structure is completed. A suspension bridge with a rope was handed over between the 7.1 meter scaffolding.


And this suspension bridge not only looks, but also has a function as a bridge in fact. There is no problem even if a person walks in this way.


However, stability will remain unreliable with only 3 ropes. So, we will install "stabilizer (stabilizer · roll control mechanism)" which is often incorporated even in actual suspended bridge. First of all, put two new ropes on the left and right of the main rope ... ...


I will combine with the main rope.


Installation of the stabilizer is completed in this way. As a result of the work, it seems that the main rope has swung slightly to the right and left, but the structure itself became a fine suspension bridge.


Of course there is no problem even if a person walks. It seems as if the subduction of the rope has become less than when only three are used.


In this experiment,Zurich Institute of Technology(ETH) "Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control"When,"The Chair of Architecture and Digital Fabrication"It is based on collaboration and is aimed at research and development of construction technology by robotic aircraft. The project is being advanced using a portable autonomous flight test facility called "Flying Machine Arena".

Flying Machine Arena | A space where flying robots live and learn
http://flyingmachinearena.org/

The appearance of the construction drone looks like this. At the bottom of the main unit is mounted a reel that holds the rope and it is made to go through a transparent rubber tube. An electric motor is attached to this reel and it is controlled so as to take out an appropriate amount of rope. In addition, when winding a rope on a pole, etc., let's have a role of a brake so that it can be wrapped tightly It is said that there is work to do.


Flying Machine Arena has a scaffolding like this and a suspension bridge is made. A camera for grasping the movement of the drone is attached to the upper part of the scaffold, and by reading the movement of the sphere like the ping-pong ball attached to the drones, it becomes possible to three-dimensionally grasp the position of the drones It is.


Compared to conventional construction equipment, construction using flying objects like drone has the advantage of "able to reach any place in the air", "able to fly in and around existing buildings" . On the other hand, the payload (loadable weight) and accuracy are inferior.

Like a suspension bridgeTension structureBuildings with a very good compatibility with architecture by such flying objects, fundamental research has been carried out so far. The rope structure which I first made in the project seemed to be a simple one that wrapped the third rope like a truss like these two ropes.


After that, development advanced and it became possible to have a complicated structure with such rolling prevention mechanism.


In this development, we conduct construction related researchGramazio Kohler ResearchIt is said that they are cooperating. On the site of Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control, there are experiments on buildings using drones and other aircraft carried out so far, and the latest and interesting research results are also released.

Research Projects - Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control | ETH Zurich


This experiment seems to have used the characteristics of drone which can fly around 3-dimensional space with high degree of freedom. Since it can be expected that the degree of freedom is high and it is expected to be able to reduce the risk of risking human life at all, if you can clear the problems that must be solved, such as precision and payload problems, great potential will be spread for drone building It is likely to become.