Robotics expert Wenlong Zhang, an associate professor in the School of Manufacturing and Systems Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, is leading research to expand the navigational capabilities of drones. That advance can make drones better equipped to carry out search and rescue operations after disasters. Zhang and his team have created a drone with an inflatable frame that can make it more resistant to damage from collisions and with a gripper that enables drones to perch safely on various surfaces. Zhang hopes to also develop drones with more bio-inspired environmental interaction ability, enabling them to monitor forest fires, aid military reconnaissance and explore other planets. More news reports are published in New Scientist, the Eurasia Review, Tech Xplore, Interesting Engineering, Inceptive Mind, Popular Science, New Atlas, IOT World Today, ASU News and Electronics for You  

See Also: Inflated ergo: Flexible robots more resilience, efficiency that their stiff competition, KJZZ News (NPR), April 28