Demonstrating Autonomous 3D Path Planning on a Novel Scalable UGV-UAV Morphing Robot

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates autonomous 3D path planning on a novel multi-modal robot capable of both ground and aerial locomotion, showcasing its ability to navigate complex indoor environments using existing SLAM and planning algorithms.

Contribution

It introduces a scalable morphing UGV-UAV robot and applies existing localization and path planning solutions to multi-modal navigation tasks.

Findings

Successful autonomous navigation in complex environments

Effective integration of multi-modal locomotion with SLAM and path planning

Demonstration of 3D path planning on a novel robot platform

Abstract

Some animals exhibit multi-modal locomotion capability to traverse a wide range of terrains and environments, such as amphibians that can swim and walk or birds that can fly and walk. This capability is extremely beneficial for expanding the animal's habitat range and they can choose the most energy efficient mode of locomotion in a given environment. The robotic biomimicry of this multi-modal locomotion capability can be very challenging but offer the same advantages. However, the expanded range of locomotion also increases the complexity of performing localization and path planning. In this work, we present our morphing multi-modal robot, which is capable of ground and aerial locomotion, and the implementation of readily available SLAM and path planning solutions to navigate a complex indoor environment.