Stanford University students’ drone perches on walls, ceilings

Researchers at Stanford University have created a drone that can perch on walls and ceilings like a bug, making progress on the problem of limited flight endurance that the devices had faced.

The device uses several  ''microspines,'' (textured pads inspired by geckos' ability to climb walls) and a tail spine, the drone positions itself against a wall or ceiling. The microspines drag against the bumps in the wall and hang on using friction, letting the drone perch securely on materials like stucco or cinderblock.

The development could help drones use their batteries more efficiently: rather than hovering for minutes on end (draining their power).

With the configuration  a pilot drone would be able to find a suitable location and hang out to shoot footage or to take pictures, conserving its energy. It would also make it possible for drones to continue operating in weather conditions that it might be unable to fly in.

An early version of the technology was first introduced about a year ago and though, as one researcher wrote, it was still ''not as foolproof as landing on a level surface,'' he was hopeful that the team at Stanford was ''closer than ever to making perching accessible outside a research environment.''

The quadcopter can avoid wind and rain and lands on rough outdoor surfaces on micro-spines with opposed-grip strategy.

For vertical surface landing, the drone edges up to the wall using its tail spine before gripping to the surface using its opposed microspines.

It sticks to ceiling by directly landing onto the ceiling surface where its micro-spines latch onto bumps and groves.

The quadcopter can then continue to remain perched on location, shooting videos until the battery is dies.

According to the students, the robot could be used to survey building deterioration, environmental monitoring and earthquake and fire rescue.