A miniature glider robot capable of jumping, gliding and perching for search and rescue or detection of forest fires have been designed by researchers at EPFL’s Laboratory of Intelligent Systems.

The robot is constructed with two spring-loaded arms fitted with pins that dig into the surface, whether it is wood or concrete. The arms snap forward to provide soft deceleration of the glider and avoid mechanical damage. A remotely controlled mini-motor then detracts the pins and allows the robot to continue on its way.

Developer Mirko Kovac, currently a post-doc at UC Berkeley, imagines swarms of his robots equipped with different sensors and small cameras that could be deployed over devastated areas to transmit essential information back to rescue command centers. The robot design is scalable, he says.

More info: EPFL news