Many attempts have been made to embed softness into multirotor-robot design to enhance morphing and physical interactions. However, soft parts were mostly confined to specific locations and customized to specific tasks. While interesting ideas towards soft multirotor robots have started to emerge [1-3], substantial work on soft aerial robot design is still required to unlock the full potential of softness and achieve rich morphing and physical interaction capabilities.
This assignment deals with the design and realization of a deformable UAV arm actuated by multiple propellers and possibly additional tendons separately actuated. A dynamic model of the arm will be developed in order to predict the shape given certain state and propeller and tendon inputs. The assignment consists of different phases:
- Study the existing state of the art
- Assess the gaps in the literature
- Design a deformable arm to overcome such gaps, putting emphasis on the design, material choice, weight, and having in mind the future integration of a UAV.
- Build and characterize the prototype arm.
- Design a dynamic model of the arm. The model should compromise between accuracy and computational complexity.
The thesis replies to the following research questions:
What are the current gaps in the deformable propeller-actuated UAV arms?
What can a multiple-propeller arm achieve compared to the state of the art?
What is a suitable dynamic model of the chosen arm?
Required Skills
The interested candidate should have skills in mechanical design and possibly prototype realization, should be motivated to carry out hands-on activities, and should be confident with modeling mechanical systems.
How to apply
Interested candidates are invited to contact Chiara Gabellieri at c.gabellieri@utwente.nl, expressing their interest and providing their CV and list of exams.
Timeline Constraints
The assignment is available to be started full-time no later than October 1, 2026, or after June 1, 2027.
References
[1] [Ruiz, F., Arrue, B., & Ollero, A. (2022, June). A flexible propelled arm: Mechanical considerations for the use in UAVs. In 2022 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS) (pp. 1047-1055). IEEE.
[2] Ruiz, F., Arrue, B. C., & Ollero, A. (2022). Sophie: Soft and flexible aerial vehicle for physical interaction with the environment. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 7(4), 11086-11093.
[3] Verdin, R., Moreno, H., Spong, M. W., & Flores, G. (2026). The QuadSoft: Design, Construction, and Experimental Validation of a Soft and Actuated Quadrotor. arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.00496.