cs.ROApr 24, 2026

A Lightweight Toggleable Adhesion Prototype for Multirotor UAV Landing on Tilting Platforms

Authors: Teighin NordholtMelissa Greeff

Organizations: Robora Lab (www.roboralab.com), Queen’s University · affiliated with Ingenuity Labs Research Institute

Abstract

Autonomous multirotor landings on uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) are critical for persistent maritime operations but remain challenging due to wave-induced tilt, wind disturbances, and limited landing area. Many existing approaches exhibit small pose tolerance for reliable landing. This paper presents a lightweight toggleable adhesion mechanism to improve landing reliability. The system uses a motor-driven corkscrew that engages hook-and-loop material on the landing surface, enabling active adhesion during landing and controlled release during takeoff. We evaluate a prototype using a modified Crazyflie 2.0 and a custom tilting platform at fixed angles representative of extreme wave conditions. Using only a simple vertical PID controller, the proposed approach increases landing success from an average of 40% (baseline) to 80% across platform tilts up to 43 degrees using appropriately selected actuation settings.

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