You cannot deny it, but a name like HyTAQ (Hybrid Terrestrial and Aerial Quadrotor), which also ties in nicely as being “high tech”, is irresistable to name your robot, right? A team over at the Robotics Lab at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) developed the HyTAQ, where it has a cylindrical outer protective cage, which is attached to the quadrotor using a shaft connected by a couple of rotating joints, which allows the HyTAQ to fly or roll over the ground, as and when the need arises.
The quadrotors will deliver the thrust required for aerial and terrestrial locomotion, and there is no need for further actuators which would be counter productive, as the weight of the entire system would be increased. When the HyTAQ is on the ground, the rolling cage would mean the robot needs to overcome just rolling resistance to move forward, and it will jump over an obstacle that it finds difficult to roll over. This is far more energy efficient, and in an aerial-only travel test, its battery lasted five minutes while moving 1,969 ft (600 m), although when rolling over a smooth surface, it was able to last for 27 minutes, traveling a distance of 7,874 ft (2,400 m).
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