From Sky to Soil: A Morphing Aerial-Ground Robot for Seed Deployment

Namai Chandra; Lining Yao

cs.ROSep 29, 2026

From Sky to Soil: A Morphing Aerial-Ground Robot for Seed Deployment

Authors: Namai Chandra, Lining Yao

Organizations: Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India · Morphing Matter Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA

Abstract

Aerial seed broadcasting can reach remote restoration sites, but provides limited control over seed placement within the soil. This paper presents a geometry-assisted, tri-functional morphing robot that combines aerial access, ground locomotion, and controlled-depth seed embedding in a fly-drive-plant architecture. After landing, the platform reconfigures into a four-wheeled planting configuration: an electronically coupled dual-motor drive folds the rear arms outward to form ground wheels, while a descending front tray engages the propulsion motors with a drill gear train. Reusing the propulsion motors for drilling eliminates a dedicated drill drive. The planting sequence forms a hole, dispenses a seed, and allows the vehicle to reposition on the ground or return to its flight configuration. Ground mobility supports repeated planting without requiring a separate flight between adjacent sites. A companion controller issues reconfiguration, tray, and seed-gate commands, while a dedicated autopilot handles flight control. The morphing and planting mechanisms are validated using a hardware prototype that demonstrates ground repositioning and seed embedding. This proof of concept establishes a hardware basis for aerial-ground seed embedding through coordinated reconfiguration and actuator reuse.

Figures & tables

Fig. 1: Prototype on terrain in (1) flight configuration and (5) plant (morphed) configuration, corresponding to the numbered CAD stages of Fig. 2 .

Fig. 2: Complete morphing sequence from flight to plant configuration. Stage 1 : drone (flight) mode; all four arms extended, propeller-guard rings upright. Stage 2 : rear arms begin rotating outward ( $\theta\approx 0^{\circ}$ from flight position). Stage 3 : rear arms at $\approx 30^{\circ}$ . Stage 4 : rear arms at $\approx 60^{\circ}$ ; 4A (inset, top-right) shows the back view of the gear train responsible for converting rack travel into rear-arm rotation (the mechanism by which propeller-guarded arms fold outward to become ground wheels). Stage 5 : rear arms at $90^{\circ}$ , plant mode reached; a second view of Stage 5 (rotated perspective) shows the platform grounded on all four wheels. 5Z (zoom inset): front-tray gear disengaged: the brushless motor shafts and the drill-drive gear are not yet meshed. Between 5Z and 6Z , three intermittent frames (read right to left) show the front tray descending via a rack-and-pinion mechanism: the pinion rotates clockwise, translating the front motor tray downward. 6Z (zoom inset): front tray fully descended: the brushless motor shafts now mesh with the drill-drive gear, engaging the drill bits. Stage 6 : fully deployed plant configuration with drill bits engaged and ready for seed embedding.

System	Mass (g)	Modes	Morph drive	Morph DoF	Actuator reuse	Ground contact	Task	Seed placement	Depth set
Foldable Drone [ 9 ]	580	flight	4 servos	4	no	NA	grasp	NA	NA
M4 [ 8 ]	5600 a	air/wheel/leg	8 servos	8 hip	prop./wheel	wheels/legs	grasp	NA	NA
Geometry-morphing quad [ 12 ]	NR	flight	arm servos	4	no	NA	NA	NA	NA
HyTAQ [ 10 ]	NR	air/roll	passive cage	0	prop./roll	cage	mobility	NA	NA
Sarrus frame [ 14 ]	NR	flight	1 actuator	1	no	NA	NA	NA	NA
Vert. foldable UAV [ 15 ]	805	flight	1 servo	1 coupled	no	NA	grasp	NA	NA

TABLE I: Comparison with Representative Hybrid and Seeding Platforms

Fig. 3: Mission-level morphing and planting sequence, with the platform drawn in each state (colours as in Fig. 2 ). Morph transitions use a fixed drive interval; mechanical end-stops define the terminal configurations. Grey: airborne. Orange: morph transition. Green: grounded task phases. The row-advance branch repeats Drilling $\to$ Dispensing at successive sites without re-entering flight.

Fig. 4: Seed-gate dispensing mechanism. (1) Underside view: seed box, rack-and-pinion gate, and twin drill augers. (2) Open : the gate motor rotates the pinion, sliding the cover aside to release seed. (3) Closed : from (2) the gear rotates clockwise, sealing the box. The command uses an 80 ms opening pulse, a 1 s dwell, and an 80 ms closing pulse.

Fig. 5: Drill-and-seed cycle (side-view cross-section, soil shown below the ground line). (1) Plant mode with front tray raised; drill bits above soil. (2) Front tray descends via rack-and-pinion; propulsion motors re-engage the drill gear train, driving the bits into the substrate. (3) Tray retracts; the vehicle advances so the seed-gate outlet sits above the borehole, then dispenses a seed. If the seed does not settle into the hole, step (2) is repeated: the tray re-descends and the drill tip tamps the seed in before final retraction.

Parameter	Value	Notes
Airframe mass	$<$ $500\text{\,}\mathrm{g}$	battery excluded
Overall size	$286.83\times 126.1$ mm	flight mode
Wheel diameter	$127\text{\,}\mathrm{mm}$	5 in propeller guard
Battery capacity	4S, 3500 mAh LiPo	all-up mass $\sim$ 800 g
Static thrust	5.3 kgf total	4S; thrust-to-weight $>$ 6:1
Brushless motors	Emax ECOII-2306, 1700 KV	$\times$ 4

TABLE II: Platform Hardware Specifications

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Sep 24, 2026, cs.ROJ/K move · Enter open · S save

Fly, Drive, Reconfigure: A Modular Reconfigurable Aerial-Ground Platform for Field Operations

Li-Yu Lo, Yanbaihui Liu, Chengchuan Shu, Tyler Harris+2

Duke University

Aerial Robots Heterogeneous Robot Teams Reconfiguration Autonomous Surface Vehicles Drives

Open paper AskPDF arXiv

Heterogeneous robot teams distribute complementary capabilities across specialized agents, but their physical roles and capacities typically remain fixed throughout a mission. We present HARP, a Heterogeneous Aerial Robotic modules Platform in which independently deployable aerial robots physically reconfigure to compose their capabilities for field operations. HARP comprises sensor-equipped scouts, flydrive rover modules, and task-specific payload modules. Scouts map the environment and inform an energy-aware planner that jointly selects routes and air-ground mobility modes. Rover and payload modules fly independently across terrain that constrains ground travel, then autonomously assemble into a cooperative ground vehicle for energy-efficient payload transport. Motivated by environmental sampling in remote and difficult-to-traverse regions, we evaluate HARP through field experiments spanning sensing, planning, reconfiguration, airground mobility, payload transport, and task execution. We further conduct module-level deployment tests on the Greenland Ice Sheet toward future autonomous missions. HARP demonstrates how heterogeneous robot teams can adapt not only their actions, but also how their physical capabilities are composed during a mission.

Abstract

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