Flying Biped
A hybrid robot combining bipedal terrain locomotion with quadrotor aerial capabilities
The Flying Biped is a hybrid robotic system I built at IIT Hyderabad that combines the terrain adaptability of a biped with the aerial capability of a hexacopter — while mitigating the limitations of each individual platform.
The Flying Biped: a hexacopter frame mounted above a bipedal walking platform, enabling both ground locomotion and flight.
Motivation
Standard bipeds are limited to ground locomotion and cannot cross large gaps or elevation changes. Quadrotors are unconstrained aerially but inefficient for ground contact tasks. By merging both morphologies, this system can walk on flat terrain and take off when obstacles require aerial navigation — a step toward truly versatile mobile robots.
Design
- Hexacopter frame integrated with a miniature bipedal lower body
- Independent control systems for ground locomotion (biped walking) and flight (hexacopter stabilization)
- Designed, built, and controlled at IIT Hyderabad
Publication
- Towards a Flying and Leaping Humanoid Robot — IROS 2018 (Poster), with V. Joshi and R.P. Kumar