Purdue's flexible insect-inspired drone fights the wind to deliver heavy packages

An insect-inspired drone with flexible folding ‘arms’ can withstand harsh winds to deliver heavier objects than previously possible, its creator has claimed.

Assistant professor Xiumin Diao at Purdue University in Indiana created the drone, which was inspired by the wings and flight patterns of insects.

Most drones perform poorly in windy conditions because of fixed-wing designs, said Diao. To overcome the issue, he created a new patented design with automatically-folding wings for in-flight adjustments.

The design provides drones with improved stability in windy conditions because the folding arms move and change the centre of gravity during flight, said Diao. He said the design also makes drones more energy efficient because the movable arms allows the use of the full range of rotor thrust.

"The drones on the market now have fixed arms and that greatly reduces their maximum payload capacity when the payload is offset their centre of gravity," said Diao. "Our design allows a larger payload because the movable arms can liberate part of rotor thrust to fight the weight on the overall device."

Foldable arms could also make search-and-rescue missions easier, said Diao, letting drones morph to fit through narrow spaces.

The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialisation is looking for additional researchers and partners to license the technology.

The research was published in the ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control.