| This paper analyzes the design of an aerial unmanned robotic arm with storage (AURAS) with a
prototype gripper for any sized drone. This prototype is an arm that extends from the drone,
secures an object, then returns and stores the object. This is done through a single actuator for
simplicity. It can grab a single object and store a minimum of three on-board. This robotic
gripper and arm design extends more than double the length of the drone and retracts for
minimal flight obstruction. The use of a robotic drone gripper and arm for sampling or other
objectives can be advantageous since it can allow access to areas that are inaccessible by human
or ground vehicles. In this project, a literature review was done on many drone gripping
mechanisms, a CAD model of the mechanism was created and analyzed, and a prototype of this
mechanism was built and evaluated.
Key Words: Gripper, Drone, Robotic Arm, Aircraft, Storage, Grasping Mechanism, Torque,
Minimum Actuation, Sampling, Multiple Objects, Drone Arm, Drone Storage, Aerial Vehicles,
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, UAV, AURAS |