Tactile-based Exploration, Mapping and Navigation with Collision-Resilient Aerial Vehicles

TL;DR

This paper presents XPLORER, a collision-resilient deformable UAV that uses tactile sensing and novel motion primitives for efficient exploration and mapping in contact-rich environments.

Contribution

Introduction of XPLORER, a passive deformable UAV with a force estimation algorithm and tactile-based motion primitives for collision-aware navigation.

Findings

Effective collision detection and force estimation onboard

Successful autonomous tactile-based navigation primitives

Demonstrated potential in real-world inspection and mapping

Abstract

This article introduces XPLORER, a passive deformable UAV with a spring-augmented chassis and proprioceptive state awareness, designed to endure collisions and maintain smooth contact. We develop a fast-converging external force estimation algorithm for XPLORER that leverages onboard sensors and proprioceptive data for contact and collision detection. Using this force information, we propose four motion primitives, including three novel tactile-based primitives: tactile-traversal, tactile-turning, and ricocheting-to aid XPLORER in navigating unknown environments. These primitives are synthesized autonomously in real-time to enable efficient exploration and navigation by leveraging collisions and contacts. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach, highlighting the potential of passive deformable UAVs for contact-rich real-world tasks such as non-destructive inspection, surveillance and mapping, and pursuit/evasion.