Tethered Flying Robot for Information Gathering System

Information from the sky is important for rescue activity in large-scale disaster or dangerous areas. Observation system using a balloon or an airplane has been studied as an information gathering system from the sky. A balloon observation system needs helium gas and relatively long time to be ready. An airplane observation system can be prepared in a short time and its mobility is good. However, a long time flight is difficult because of limited amount of fuel. This paper proposes a kite-based observation system that complements activities of balloon and airplane observation systems by short preparation time and long time flight. This research aims at construction of the autonomous flight information gathering system using a tethered flying unit that consists of the kite and the ground tether line control unit with a winding machine. This paper reports development of the kite type tethered flying robot and an autonomous flying control system inspired by how to fly a kite by a human.