Special claws enable drones top perch like birds and conserve battery

Drones have found numerous applications among the military as well as civilians. They are useful for surveying properties, carrying tiny cargo, aerial videography, and photography, military and law enforcement surveillance, etc. But one problem that all drones face is their short battery life since the best ones cannot last for more than 20 minutes to half an hour. While most engineers struggle to find a solution to the battery problem, a multinational team of robotics engineers has come up with an innovative solution to extend the range of the drones, one that does not involve batteries at all.

The idea for the invention was inspired by observing the pattern and habits of birds. Birds use their claws to perch on a suitable surface in order to rest and then fly off again. The team that came up with the solution designed and built claws that would allow drones to perch on edges, horizontal and vertical pipes, and so on. Such claws would enable drone operators to perch their drones and continue surveillance without having to keep the drone hovering. Moreover, hovering is one of the most energy consuming aspects of using drones.

This simple yet smart function is augmented with a program that allows the drone to sense suitable places for perching on its own, using a type of depth-sensing technique. What’s best is that these special purpose claws can be attached to any drone, depending on the requirement.