A reconfigurable quadcopter with foldable rotor arms and a deployable carrier

This paper presents for the first time a reconfigurable quadcopter with foldable rotor arms and a deployable carrier. Structure design of the proposed quadcopter is presented and dynamic model of the whole system is established. Numerical simulation is then implemented illustrating manoeuvrability and stability of the proposed quadcopter. Further, using FEA method structure analysis of the reconfigurable rotor-arm system is carried out, verifying the strength and stiffness of the flight structure. The proposed reconfigurable quadcopter can be used for both aerial and terrestrial exploration with the terrestrial function to be achieved by a micro walking/wheeled robot stored in the deployable carrier.