Unmanned aerial vehicles of all shapes and sizes were featured at this year’s AUVSI (Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International) Conference held in Washington DC, but there was one in particular that defied the imagination – Lockheed Martin’s Samarai, a hand-held UAV inspired by the maple seed and weighing less than half a pound.
The Samarai demonstrated vertical takeoff and landing, stable hover, and on-board video streaming in the middle of the show floor. Measuring a scant 16 inches long, the monocopter flew a series of flights while streaming live video from a camera that rotated around its center, providing a 360 degree view.
Samarai’s vertical takeoff and landing system is comprised of only two moving parts and provides full 360 degree sensing without using a gimbal. The rotation of the UAV allows omni-directional sensing using simple optical, laser, or acoustic sensors without complex mechanical actuators, and because of its small size and weight, an operator can easily carry the vehicle in a backpack and launch it from the ground or like a boomerang.
Craig Stoneking with Lockheed Martin's Samarai UAV - AP Photo/Julio Cortez
“Our team has taken the basic shape and design of the naturally aerodynamic maple seed and harnessed it with flight controls and avionics,” said Kingsley Fregene, principal investigator for Samarai at Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Laboratories. “We’ve learned a great deal about biologically inspired vehicles that we can apply across the laboratory, including a better understanding of micro-robots and the devices that control their movement.”
David Sharp with Lockheed Martin's Samarai UAV - AP Photo/Julio Cortez
Samarai was developed by the Advanced Technology Laboratories (ATL) in Cherry Hill, NJ. Inspired by the descent of maple seeds that float down from trees each season, the team decided to improve on the simplicity and stability provided by evolution for guided flight.
Considering the inherent simplicity of the Samarai’s design it seems logical that something similar could be mass produced and sold at your local Radio Shack or Best Buy, and that idea begs the question, will unmanned aerial surveillance one day enter the public domain on a large scale?
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This is an inspired design – but doesn’t the camera spin around too?
It appears so based on the video, unless there’s one mounted underneath the center section.