Soft Electroadhesive Feet for Micro Aerial Robots Perching on Smooth and Curved Surfaces

TL;DR

This paper introduces soft, stretchable electroadhesive feet for micro aerial robots, demonstrating their ability to perch on smooth and curved surfaces with controllable adhesion.

Contribution

It presents a fabrication workflow for electroadhesive pads, compares adhesion forces under different conditions, and demonstrates perching on various surfaces using a quadrotor.

Findings

Shear adhesion reaches about 3 N with partial contact.

Normal adhesion is smaller and substrate-dependent.

Quadrotor perches reliably on smooth and curved surfaces.

Abstract

Electroadhesion (EA) provides electrically switchable adhesion and is a promising mechanism for perching micro aerial robots on smooth surfaces. However, practical implementations of soft and stretchable EA pads for aerial perching remain limited. This work presents (i) an efficient workflow for fabricating soft, stretchable electroadhesive pads with sinusoidal wave and concentric-circle electrodes in multiple sizes, (ii) a controlled experimental comparison of normal and shear adhesion under inactive (0 kV) and active (4.8 kV) conditions using an Instron-based setup, and (iii) a perching demonstration using a Crazyflie quadrotor equipped with electroadhesive feet on flat and curved substrates. Experimental results show that shear adhesion dominates, reaching forces on the order of 3 N with partial pad contact, while normal adhesion is comparatively small and strongly dependent on substrate properties. The Crazyflie prototype demonstrates repeatable attachment on smooth plastic surfaces, including curved geometries, as well as rapid detachment when the voltage is removed. These results highlight the potential of soft electroadhesive feet for lightweight and reliable perching in micro aerial vehicles (MAVs).