According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, pollinators are responsible for assisting 90% of all flowering plant reproduction. However, the effects of climate change and human development have caused their habitats to decline in recent decades. Technology such as robotic bees could be used to supplement pollination efforts, but they require a mobile pollination base station. To address this, we designed a quadcopter with an underactuated grasping mechanism, custom flight software, and a depth-based vision model to identify and perch on tree branches. Our approach allows for autonomous mobile pollination in hard-to-reach locations, ensuring that natural pollinator populations have the ability to rebound.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• Altheimer, Suzanne
• Dean, Cooper
• Kerekon, Andrew
• Boyle, Keelan

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• 121799
• E-project-042524-154702

Keyword

• Cable-driven Mechanism
• Bio-inspired
• Machine Learning
• Passive Actuation

Advisor

• Rosendo, Andre
• Mangoubi, Oren Rami
• Krueger, Robert
• Korkin, Dmitry

Year

• 2024

Date created

• 2024-04-25

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Robotics Engineering
• Computer Science
• Mathematical Sciences

Source

• E-project-042524-154702

Rights statement

• In Copyright