The hexacopter uses a pen in its pressure-sensing arm to write the Shenyang Institute of Automation’s initials (SIA) on a glass wall
Meng Xiangdong
Glass-clad skyscrapers need to be inspected on a regular basis, in order to ensure that the glass panes are securely attached and undamaged. Doing so might soon become much quicker and safer, with a little help from a special drone.
Currently, such inspections are carried out by people who are lowered along the face of the building on a swing stage. This takes a lot of time and effort, plus there’s definitely an element of risk for the workers involved.
With these limitations in mind, a team of scientists from the Shenyang Institute of Automation at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a prototype autonomous hexacopter drone.
