ETH Zurich’s Department of Mechanical and Processing Engineering has been working on the advancement of aerial drones, and just last week the university put out a video documenting what’s being considered a breakthrough in drone technology: the first drones to autonomously (without human input) build a bridge strong enough for a human to walk across.
The bridge, constructed out of rope, spans 24 feet between two scaffolds and consists of 9 rope segments that account for a total rope length of about 395 feet. The rope bridge is made up mainly of different types of knots, links, and braids, and can fully sustain the weight of a full grown adult.
The bridge is being considered nearly groundbreaking thanks to its innovations in aerial drone development largely because of its complete independence from the touch of a human hand and because of its ability to build the first successful load-bearing structure. Built entirely by quadrocopters, the bridge is a current testament to the autonomy of drones and, according to ETH Zurich, the first real step towards applying drones full-scale to real-world scenarios.
Made out of Dyneema, a low-weight-to-strength ratio material, the drone-made bridge can actually support up to almost 2900 pounds. Its endurance and strength make the bridge an even more structurally sound success and, more importantly, suitable for aerial construction.
What Is the Purpose of Aerial Drone Development?
ETH Zurich’s main focus when building the bridge was to advance the real-world applications of drones in the construction industry. With so many aerial tasks accompanied by larger risk and danger than traditional construction, the University wanted to spotlight a viable solution to the hazardous occupation through technology.
And using quadrocopters as construction mediums not only mitigated a large amount, if not all, of the danger involved in aerial construction, it also allowed machines to outperform man by building complicated structures in typically unstructured environments. For ETH Zurich, the project was specifically designed to research drone potential to build spatial load-bearing structures not achievable through robotic systems.
What Does This Mean for Construction?
For a group of drones to be able to autonomously build and sustain an actual physical bridge that can support the weight of one person means big things for construction. ETH Zurich set out to prove the integral role drones can potentially play on the construction jobsite, and they accomplished that by configuring a way for drones to work together and, essentially, prove the success of swarm theory.
By having drones work in swarms to perform predetermined tasks without the need for workers to be onsite, construction is looking at faster, more efficient rates at which tasks and projects can get completed. When drones work together they almost emulate a crane by lifting and transporting materials at varying heights. However, drones can go above and beyond the position of a crane because as a swarm, drones can build things, and they can do it autonomously.
Drones are more than just moving cameras that can track onsite progress, and ETH Zurich’s experiment is among the first of its kind to factually prove that when in swarms, drones can become integral to the construction jobsite by assuming multiple roles such as carriers, lifters, builders, aids, etc.. Drones can complete projects as though part of a real team, only faster and with more efficiency.
Because their tasks can be predetermined, drones help save time, and because of their accuracy, speed, and autonomy, they save money and keep workers safe. What drones can and do bring to the table is revolutionary, and it certainly means big things for the world of construction.
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