The special drone can fit in the smallest space

Swiss researchers have developed a drone that can change the position of its wings and thus penetrate tight spaces. It will soon be programmable to fly into a building.

Specialists from the University of Zurich and the Technical University of Lausanne started from the movement of the birds: they close their wings to their side if necessary so that they can fly over narrower places. The Swiss robot has four X-shaped wings.

If the structure arrives in a tighter space, the servomotors can change the position of the wings: for example, instead of X, the drone takes the shape of the letter H, which can also carry a light load between its folded wings. You can adjust the wings to the shape of the letter T, for example, so that you can observe it by flying close to an object. It is also possible to reduce the diameter of the structure by pulling all four wings next to the fuselage so that it can fly through an opening, for example. The wings are then opened again.

The inventors of the new type of drone are now working to improve the algorithms so that the structure can fly completely independently. For example, it will be programmable to fly into a building, inspect all its rooms, and then return to the starting point.