Russian Engineers Develop Drone Manipulator for Sample Collection and Cargo Handling

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. Young engineers from the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Technological University MIREA have created "arms" for drones - a manipulator with which UAVs, underwater, and ground robots can collect soil samples, open doors, or pick up cargo, the university’s press service told TASS.

"This new development will enable mobile platforms to be equipped with a universal manipulator based on a cable-link structure, which will be light enough for a drone and strong enough to interact with objects. Interchangeable attachments will enable UAVs to perform various tasks - from grabbing cargo to remotely applying aerosols and spraying on hard-to-reach objects and surfaces," the RTU MIREA reported.

According to Andrey Zuyev, the project's scientific director and head of the Department of Quantum Information Technology, Practical and Applied Computer Studies at RTU MIREA, a drone courier with such "arms" will be able to carefully place packages on a platform or pick them up for delivery, rather than simply drop them. The authors have already built a prototype and created control algorithms for the "arms" that ensure accuracy and predictability.

"Currently, a drone is essentially a flying camera. It can see, but it can’t touch. We want to equip it with arms that should be light, because every gram counts, and at the same time strong, capable of holding something. Our cable-and-link design allows for this--it’s like a skeleton with tendons or a tentacle with muscles. Such a manipulator can move to almost any point in the hemisphere in front of it," said project supervisor Alexander Mitnitsky, a student at RTU MIREA's Institute of Information Technology, as quoted by the university’s press service.

The project was supported by a grant from the RTU MIREA accelerator program.