Wake Vectoring for Efficient Morphing Flight

Abstract: Morphing aerial robots have the potential to transform autonomous flight, enabling navigation through cluttered environments, perching, and seamless transitions between aerial and terrestrial locomotion. Yet mid-flight reconfiguration presents a critical aerodynamic challenge: tilting propulsors to achieve shape change reduces vertical thrust, undermining stability and control authority. Here, we introduce a passive wake vectoring mechanism that recovers lost thrust during morphing. Integrated into a novel robotic system, Aerially Transforming Morphobot (ATMO), internal deflectors intercept and redirect rotor wake downward, passively steering airflow momentum that would otherwise be wasted. This electronics-free solution achieves up to a 40% recovery of vertical thrust in configurations where no useful thrust would otherwise be produced, substantially extending hover and maneuvering capabilities during transformation. Our findings highlight a new direction for morphing aerial robot design, where passive aerodynamic structures, inspired by thrust vectoring in rockets and aircraft, enable efficient, agile flight without added mechanical complexity.