{"ID":2886661,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.02022","arxiv_id":"2508.02022","title":"Design and Control of an Actively Morphing Quadrotor with Vertically Foldable Arms","abstract":"In this work, we propose a novel quadrotor design capable of folding its arms vertically to grasp objects and navigate through narrow spaces. The transformation is controlled actively by a central servomotor, gears, and racks. The arms connect the motor bases to the central frame, forming a parallelogram structure that ensures the propellers maintain a constant orientation during morphing. In its stretched state, the quadrotor resembles a conventional design, and when contracted, it functions as a gripper with grasping components emerging from the motor bases. To mitigate disturbances during transforming and grasping payloads, we employ an adaptive sliding mode controller with a disturbance observer. After fully folded, the quadrotor frame shrinks to 67% of its original size. The control performance and versatility of the morphing quadrotor are validated through real-world experiments.","short_abstract":"In this work, we propose a novel quadrotor design capable of folding its arms vertically to grasp objects and navigate through narrow spaces. The transformation is controlled actively by a central servomotor, gears, and racks. The arms connect the motor bases to the central frame, forming a parallelogram structure that...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.02022","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.02022v1","authors":"[\"Tingyu Yeh\",\"Mengxin Xu\",\"Lijun Han\"]","published":"2025-08-04T03:34:13Z","proceeding":"cs.RO","tasks":"[\"cs.RO\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}