freeflyingmicroplatformandpapa-tv-bot.docVIP

Free Flying Micro Platform and Papa-TV-Bot: evolving autonomously hovering mobots Stefan Marti The Media Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology 20 Ames Street, Cambridge, MA USA 02139 stefanm@ Abstract This paper outlines the possibilities, the evolution, and the basic technical elements of autonomously hovering micro robots. It consists of three parts. The first part presents the application Papa-TV-Bot, a free flying automatic video camera. The second part is a schedule for the long-term development of autonomously hovering mobots in 8 phases. The third part describes the basic technologies of the vehicles of Phases 1 through 3. 1 Introduction It is well known that entities heavier than air cannot stand still in the air without the help of propulsion engines. The only machines capable of free hovering are helicopters [45] . Their ability to move freely in 3-dimensional space [28] makes them important not only for transport but also for looking at the world from unusual viewpoints. This is especially interesting for television and video productions. Aerial video- and photography is also conducted through unmanned vehicles, such as remote controlled helicopters (e.g., [3,11,17,44,47]). Although the size of these vessels is only about 3 to 5 feet in diameter, they are too dangerous for indoor use because of their large, exposed rotors. Additionally, most of them use noisy and grimy combustion engines. Due to their underlying mechanical principles, they are fundamentally unstable with highly nonlinear dynamics [28,23,24]. For these reasons, aerial photography using model helicopters is limited to expert pilots in outdoor environments, and cannot be conducted near or over crowds of people. Nevertheless, these camera positions would be interesting for TV productions [33] of entertainment shows like concerts and sports events. Cameras hovering over an open field, taking shots from directly above the audience, could convey thrilling pic