RCTA

RCTA is a collaboration between Modlab, Carnegie Melon (CMU), and the Army Research Lab (ARL) to produce a flying vehicle capable of maneuvering through and manipulating objects in the interior environment of a cluttered building.  Our contribution is to adapt Modlab’s Spiral Zipper technology into a pair of lightweight 3 DOF robotic manipulator that will serve as the system’s arms.  The entire arm weighs less than 3 kg and retracts to a height of 0.30 m but is capable of reaching objects up to 2 meters away.