A combination of an aerial quadrotor and a unicycle gives good maneuverability and endurance, Seeing the title makes you wonder if the idea was hatched in a drinking session but the paper shows cleverness
Roller-Quadrotor: A Novel Hybrid Terrestrial/Aerial Quadrotor with Unicycle-Driven and Rotor-Assisted Turning
Zhi Zheng1,2, Jin Wang†1,2, Yuze Wu3, Qifeng Cai1,2, Huan Yu1,2, Ruibin Zhang3, Jie Tu1,2, Jun Meng2,4, Guodong Lu1,2, and Fei Gao3
Abstract— Roller-Quadrotor is a novel hybrid terrestrial and aerial quadrotor that combines the elevated maneuverability of the quadrotor with the lengthy endurance of the ground vehicle. This work presents the design, modeling, and experimental validation of Roller-Quadrotor. Flying is achieved through a quadrotor configuration, and four actuators providing thrust. Rolling is supported by unicycle-driven and rotor-assisted turn- ing structure. During terrestrial locomotion, the vehicle needs to overcome rolling and turning resistance, thus saving energy compared to flight mode. This work overcomes the challenging problems of general rotorcraft, reduces energy consumption and allows to through special terrain, such as narrow gaps. It also solves the obstacle avoidance challenge faced by terrestrial robots by flying. We design the models and controllers for the vehicle. The experiment results show that it can switch between aerial and terrestrial locomotion, and be able to safely pass through a narrow gap half the size of its diameter. Besides, it is capable of rolling a distance approximately 3.8 times as much as flying or operating about 42.2 times as lengthy as flying. These results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the structure and control in rolling through special terrain and energy saving.