Autonomous aerial deployment of a hybrid drone–quadruped system for environmental tasks

This paper presents a novel aerial–ground robotic system that integrates a hexacopter UAV with a vibration-isolated quadruped robot for autonomous deployment, environmental interaction, and delivery of objects in unstructured terrains. We introduce a unique charpai-inspired spring-thread suspension platform. This passive system effectively attenuates aerial vibrations during flight, enabling stable in-flight transport of a 12-DOF quadruped. The robot employs a front-mounted, ant-inspired 2-DOF gripper and a ROS2-based control stack for vision-guided navigation and inertial stabilization. Unlike prior UAV–UGV platforms, our system enables active mid-air balancing, terrain-aware deployment, and autonomous object manipulation, validated in complex outdoor environments. Theoretical modeling and experimental validation reveal over 85% vibration isolation efficiency, with field trials confirming robust performance in complex outdoor environments. This work establishes a scalable and robust hybrid framework enabling autonomous monitoring, disaster response, and autonomous precision delivery in challenging terrains.