A Multimodal Agile Land‐Air Aircraft (AlAA) That Can Fly, Roll, and Stand

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe multimodal land‐air aircraft combines the advantages of traditional drones and ground unmanned equipment. It can cross obstacles on the ground, such as lakes and mountains, and fly quickly in the air, reaching a wider range. It can also switch to an energy‐saving mode based on the characteristics of the surrounding environment and mission requirements, reducing energy consumption and noise while increasing endurance. Based on the idea of reusing the same structure, we have designed a multi‐mode agile land‐air aircraft, abbreviated as ALAA. ALAA has eight actuators, and it combines propellers, wheels, and gearboxes in different ways to achieve multiple modes of locomotion on the ground and in the air: flight mode, driving mode, and upright mode. In propeller‐assisted driving mode, it can climb slopes up to 50°. It can also combine driving and upright modes, demonstrating strong obstacle‐crossing capabilities. In addition, ALAA reuses the same components, simplifying the transition between flight and ground movement without the need for deformation, thus enabling fast and rational mode transition suitable for complex environments. Ground modes can extend the endurance time of ALAA, and experimental results show that ALAA can operate 21 times longer than an aerial only system. This paper presents the overall design and mechanical architecture of ALAA, discusses the algorithm and controller design, and verifies the feasibility of the scheme and design through experiments with the physical prototype, showing its performance in different modes.