Focus Team

Focus-Project ¦ ETH Zurich ¦ 21-22

Our Legacy Team

AITHON was founded as a focus project at ETH Zurich. Over the course of two semesters, starting in September 2021, six mechanical and two electrical engineering students developed a drilling drone from scratch. AITHON was supervised by the Autonomous Systems Lab (ASL) at ETH Zurich and Prof. Dr. Siegwart.

Till
Kötter

Dronebody Design &
Flight Testing

Yann
Roth

Rotation Mechansism &
Assembly

Timon
Mathis

Mechatronic &
Controls

Friederike
Biffar

Simulation &
Controls

Alina
Arranhado

Drilling Platform Design & Construction

Roman
Dautzenberg

Perching Mechanism Design & Flight Testing

Timo
Küster

Drilling Platform Design & Construction

Curdin
Steinauer

Power Electronics &
Assembly

Our Coaches

Roland
Siegwart

Professor

Mike
Allenspach

coach

Christian
Lanegger

Coach

Rik
Bähnemann

Coach

Daniel
Gisler

student-Coach

Focus Project ¦ ETH Zuerich ¦ 21 - 22

Our Vision

Every year there are 9000 occupational fall accidents in Switzerland, 22 of which result in death. On average, each accident costs 26’000CHF, five times what other work-related accidents cost. AITHON’s vision is to revolutionize work at height. The flying robot could reduce human work at dangerous heights and lower the number of accidents in Switzerland and around the world.

As proof that in particular strength-sapping work off the ground can be performed by robots, AITHON has developed a quadcopter that can drill precise holes in vertical concrete walls.

From Ground to Hole

Flying and Docking

The quadcopter flies to the operation site. A power cable from the ground supplies the quadcopter with the necessary energy. While approaching the wall the vacuum pumps are turned on so that the quadcopter can dock to the wall with the suction cups. Now the propellers can be turned off, as the weight is fully supported by the suction cups.

Rotating

The drill must be aligned perpendicular to the wall. To do this, the joints are loosened, which allows the body of the quadrocopter to rotate. With the help of the propellers, the body is turned 90° towards the wall. The joints are then locked again to prevent it from tipping back.

Positioning

A positioning system is mounted on the quadcopter, which allows the drill to be positioned on a field of 60 by 60 centimeters. This compensates for inaccuracies during the approach.This not only enables the platform to drill precisely but also to do multiple operations without having to reattach.

Drilling

In order to generate the large forces needed for drilling, the propellers are turned on again and push the drone towards the wall. An onboard camera and laser system gives feedback to the operator in order to check whether the hole is at the correct position. A readjustment is possible anytime.

Return to ground

Now the hole is drilled and the drone needs to get back to take off position. The propellers rotate backwards, causing the body to move away from the wall again. Subsequently, the body rotates back to the flight position. This rotation is also driven by the propellers. The quadcopter is ready for take off,  pumps are deactivated, valves opened and the operator flies the robot away from the wall. Now the quadcopter lands on the ground again and is ready for the next mission.

Technical Specifications

A lightweight attachment system holds the quadcopter on the wall. Flexible suction cups comply with imperfect surfaces and seal small gaps. They are actuated by membrane pumps, allowing for rapid and solid attachment. For controlled detaching an electromagnetically driven valve provides an additional orifice.

In order to exert the required drilling force AITHON has to rotate its thrust by 90°. These positions can be locked with a actuated locking pin. In addition it can slide along the L-Arm with linear friction bearings to move in the drilling direction.

The lightweight “Drill Positioning System” is integrated at top of the multicopter. Two motors drive a toothed belt to position the hammer drill with millimetre precision in a square of 60×60 cm. Feedback to the operator is provided with the help of an integrated camera and two line lasers. The structure is designed to drill holes up to 10 mm in diameter with drilling forces of up to 150N. The hammer drill can also be replaced in a modular way by other tools.

Currently a modified version of the Hilti hammer drill TE 2-A22 is mounted, it is able to drill holes in concrete from 4 to 12 mm. Therefore a force of up to 120 N is applied. Due to the modularity this tool can also be replaced by a milling or anchoring machine or any tool which applies forces to the wall.

The body is the intersection of all system of the quadrocopter. It is extremely light weight and customizable for different demands. To propel the quadrocopter the latest Swiss made drone propulsion system was chosen.

The Drone in Action

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