Perching Micro Air Weapon

A highly unique, perching MAV topology providing excellent maneuverability, high explosive payload capacity, color video transmission back to the operator, good range, and energy harvesting from power lines, wind, and solar sources is detailed. These advantages greatly extend the mission duration and capabilities of the micro air weapon. Additionally, the topology of the MAV gives the ability to aim and discharge the payload, allowing the MAV to return for reuse unless expendability is required by the mission. The MAV is also capable of very effective terrestrial travel, including crawling under vehicles and into tight spaces. The design uses high performance plastic, rapid prototyped parts, COTS components such as flight motors, RC servos, receiver, video transmitter, GPS receiver, and lithium polymer batteries, and is remotely controlled via common single or two joystick techniques.   BENEFITS: The feasibility R&D and work in this proposal will fabricate, test and optimize a MAV topology that immediately can become commercial product that enables positioning and repositioning of a video link via flight to virtually any location. This ability is well suited for news gathering, viewing of scheduled indoor and outdoor events, and especially far rapidly deployable video feeds to the internet via TCP/IP and websites.