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arXiv · 2509.12620

PerchMobi^3: A Multi-Modal Robot with Power-Reuse Quad-Fan Mechanism for Air-Ground-Wall Locomotion

Yikai Chen·Zhi Zheng·Jin Wang·Bingye He·Xiangyu Xu·Jialu Zhang·Huan Yu·Guodong Lu
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Abstract

Achieving seamless integration of aerial flight, ground driving, and wall climbing within a single robotic platform remains a major challenge, as existing designs often rely on additional adhesion actuators that increase complexity, reduce efficiency, and compromise reliability. To address these limitations, we present PerchMobi^3, a quad-fan, negative-pressure, air-ground-wall robot that implements a propulsion-adhesion power-reuse mechanism. By repurposing four ducted fans to simultaneously provide aerial thrust and negative-pressure adhesion, and integrating them with four actively driven wheels, PerchMobi^3 eliminates dedicated pumps while maintaining a lightweight and compact design. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first quad-fan prototype to demonstrate functional power reuse for multi-modal locomotion. A modeling and control framework enables coordinated operation across ground, wall, and aerial domains with fan-assisted transitions. The feasibility of the design is validated through a comprehensive set of experiments covering ground driving, payload-assisted wall climbing, aerial flight, and cross-mode transitions, demonstrating robust adaptability across locomotion scenarios. These results highlight the potential of PerchMobi^3 as a novel design paradigm for multi-modal robotic mobility, paving the way for future extensions toward autonomous and application-oriented deployment.

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Yikai Chen, Zhi Zheng, Jin Wang, Bingye He, Xiangyu Xu, Jialu Zhang, Huan Yu, Guodong Lu. 2025-09-16. PerchMobi^3: A Multi-Modal Robot with Power-Reuse Quad-Fan Mechanism for Air-Ground-Wall Locomotion. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.12620

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