The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 02, 2025
Filed:
May. 08, 2023
Wenlong Zhang, Chandler, AZ (US);
Karishma Patnaik, Tempe, AZ (US);
Pham Nguyen, Mesa, AZ (US);
Shatadal Mishra, Tempe, AZ (US);
Panagiotis Polygerinos, Gilbert, AZ (US);
Wenlong Zhang, Chandler, AZ (US);
Karishma Patnaik, Tempe, AZ (US);
Pham Nguyen, Mesa, AZ (US);
Shatadal Mishra, Tempe, AZ (US);
Panagiotis Polygerinos, Gilbert, AZ (US);
Arizona Board of Regents on Behalf of Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (US);
Abstract
A fabric-based, soft-bodied aerial robot includes contact-reactive perching and embodied impact protection structures while remaining lightweight and streamlined. The aerial robot is operable to 1) pneumatically vary its body stiffness for collision resilience and 2) utilize a hybrid fabric-based, bistable (HFB) grasper to perform passive grasping. When compared to conventional rigid drone frames the soft-bodied aerial robot successfully demonstrates its ability to dissipate impact from head-on collisions and maintain flight stability without any structural damage. Furthermore, in dynamic perching scenarios the HFB grasper is capable to convert impact energy upon contact into firm grasp through rapid body shape conforming in less than 4 ms.