Image: Festo
Who said drone deliveries had to be handled by multirotors? While that may seem to be the popular design philosophy behind many drone delivery projects, Festo has a radically different approach in mind. Rotund and filled with helium, Festo’s blimp may be the ideal aircraft for cheap, safe drone-based deliveries.
Dubbed FreeMotionHandling, the flying delivery blimp is a combination of Festo’s previous works: an autonomous blimp known as eMotionSphere and a chameleon-inspired gripper called the FlexShapeGripper. Combining the two technologies gives FreeMotionHandling the ability to float autonomously and suck up objects with minimal effort.
FreeMotionHandling relies on a carbon fiber ring fitted with printed circuit boards, sensors, and rotors for directional movement. The drive system can provide thrust in multiple directions which allows the gripper to grab objects in multiple angles. The onboard array of six batteries offer a flight time of 40 minutes.
The integrated gripper acts like a chameleon’s tongue by completely enveloping objects in a tight sleeve. The sleeve compresses to grab ahold and then opens to release its hold. The gripper is able to hold more than one object at a time, but can only withstand a maximum weight of .9 pounds.
The current setup requires an indoor GPS system comprised of ten infrared cameras. Eight infrared LEDs located on the FreeMotionHandling ring act as markers so the cameras can keep tabs on FreeMotionHandling’s whereabouts in real-time. The cameras transmit positional data to a central computer which updates FreeMotionHandling’s flight path continuously.
Future iterations could benefit from a less-restrictive navigation system, but Festo says that its working on a version for workplace assistance.
Source: Festo
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