Hand-like autonomous flying robot for airborne grasping and interaction

Abstract Birds’ extraordinary aerial agility and environmental interaction enable complex tasks such as mid-air hunting, perching, and nest-building, inspiring the development of advanced aerial robots with similar manipulation capabilities. However, existing platforms often face challenges such as large size, heavy payloads, end-effector torque interference, and limited functionality, severely restricting their practical deployment. Drawing inspiration from the biological, structural, and actuation characteristics of human hands, we propose a hand-like robot that integrates flight and grasping, demonstrating the synergistic advantages of compact structure, agile flight, and versatile manipulation. We propose an autonomous framework including efficient mission planning and multi-level adaptive control, enabling the robot to precisely and smoothly perform human-like grasping, opening doors, forest perching, object transport, and interactive tasks. Additionally, the framework supports human-robot collaboration, empowering individuals with mobility impairment to conduct remote transportation and airborne operations. Outdoor tests, which include perching in various scenarios, navigating confined spaces, and transporting payloads across challenging terrain, validate the proposed vehicle’s potential in aerial delivery and manipulation tasks. These results demonstrate emerging possibilities for aerial operation, assistance, and delivery with integrated flight and manipulation abilities.