By now you're probably resigned to the fact that flying robots are among us. They monitor weather patterns, spy on our enemies and even stage a publicity stunt from time to time. For most of us, that might seem like a pretty good niche for a flying robot to fulfill. The Germans have different plans.
Engineers and roboticists at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have slapped a robotic arm to the belly of a small autonomous helicopter. The idea is to expand the tasks that aerial drones can accomplish by giving them the capacity to manipulate objects that might be hard to reach for humans. The resulting drones, however, look a little like something you'd find in Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory.
DLR plans to eventually create a fleet of these flying, arm-wielding robots which will be able to work in small teams to accomplish high-flying construction and repair tasks. The choppers will vary in size from units with rotor diameters of five to ten feet.
The implementation of these newly-armed drones is still in its infancy, with stable flight still a little way off. After all, stable flight becomes difficult when every movement of your repair arm throws off your center of gravity. Once these issues are resolved, we could eventually see limbed drones around town completing repairs on power lines and affixing rooftop satellite dishes for their human owners. Just don't shake their hands too vigorously after a job well done — you might end up giving yourself an impromptu haircut. VIDEO
Via DLR
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