Hybrid flying driving robot with a clutch mechanism for energy efficiency

A hybrid flying and driving robot comprising:

• a plurality of wheels;
• a plurality of propellers;
• a plurality of motors, each of which is configured to drive the rotation of a respective wheel of said plurality of wheels;
• wherein each respective motor of said plurality of motors is connected to a respective propeller of said plurality of propellers by means of a respective gear arrangement;
• wherein each respective gear arrangement is rearrangeable between two configurations:
• a) a first configuration wherein the respective motor is configured to drive the rotation of the respective propeller;
• and
• b) a second configuration wherein the respective motor does not drive the rotation of the respective propeller;
• wherein said robot comprises four wheels, four propellers and four motors;
• wherein the robot comprises:
• a main body portion;
• two side arms, each connected to a side of said main body portion;
• two legs connected to each of the side arms;
• wherein each leg comprises:
• a respective motor of the motors;
• a respective wheel of the wheels, connected at the bottom of the leg;
• a respective propeller of the propellers, connected at the top of the leg;
• wherein the two side arms are rotatable relative to the main body portion to define a variable sprawl angle;
• and
• wherein the gear arrangement is mechanically linked to the two side arms such that rotation of the two side arms actuates the gear arrangement to transition between the first configuration and the second configuration.

A hybrid flying and driving robot comprising:

• a plurality of clutch mechanisms, each of which clutch mechanism comprises:
• a motor;
• a wheel, wherein the motor is configured to drive the rotation of said wheel;
• a bottom crown gear wherein said motor is configured to drive the rotation of said bottom crown gear;
• a displaceable upper crown gear meshable with said bottom crown gear;
• wherein in a first configuration the upper crown gear is placed in a position such that the upper crown gear meshes with the bottom crown gear;
• and
• wherein in a second configuration the upper crown gear is placed in a position away from the bottom crown gear such that the upper crown gear does not mesh with the bottom crown gear;
• a shaft fixedly connected to a propeller at one end and fixedly connected to the center of the upper crown gear at an other end of said shaft;
• and
• a displaceable surface above the upper crown gear;
• wherein the upper crown gear is fixedly attached to said displaceable surface;
• wherein said displaceable surface is configured to be pushed down by a fork element and configured to be pushed up by an elastic element;
• wherein the elastic element is placed between the bottom of the displaceable surface and a respective surface;
• wherein the fork element comprises a slanted sloping bottom surface;
• wherein the displaceable surface comprises a ramp on said displaceable surface top;
• and
• wherein the slanted sloping bottom surface is engageable with the ramp such that when engaged:
• a) the displaceable surface moves vertically downwards when the slanted sloping bottom surface moves towards the high end of the ramp;
• and
• b) the displaceable surface moves vertically upwards by means of the elastic element, when the slanted sloping bottom surface moves away from the high end of the ramp.