A Blimp-Based Robot That Moves Under the Ceiling
摘要
This article considers indoor aerial vehicles that use a blimp to obtain a buoyancy that exceeds the vehicle’s weight. A so-called Buoyancy-Inverted Vehicle (BIV) moves directly under the ceiling such that physical contact with the ceiling can be exploited for locomotion. In this article, existing concepts for BIVs from literature are discussed. Furthermore, a novel concept for a BIV is proposed. A prototype that demonstrates the feasibility of the concept is described and possible application areas are discussed.