Responding to Customer Feedback: DJI Matrice 210 Now Supported 

"Expanding our drone compatibility to include the DJI Matrice 210 is a significant step for our technology’s wide adoption," said Squishy Robotics Lead Mechatronics Engineer Douglas Hutchings. "The 210-series model is popular among the first response community. Now customers can use our sensor robots and software to expand the capabilities of this popular drone."
 
Squishy Robotics focused on larger DJI drones, such as the Matrice 600, in early engineering work for our robots, Hutchings explained. The 210-series drone is a foldable quadcopter with a dual-battery system for extended flight times. The model has robust integration with third-party systems, including a wide variety of cameras, making it among the most popular drones for work—rather than hobby—use.
 
The lighter weight of the 210-series drone created some mechanical challenges. “It never is simple to carry a large—albeit light—robot with a relatively small drone," Hutchings said. Engineers made several changes to the landing gear and mounting hardware as well as added new menus and screens to the user interface (UI). "Our engineers were careful to design all this additional hardware so that it is easily removable,"  Hutchings emphasized. "Our work enables the Matrice 210 to be rapidly returned to its default configuration."  

Here is a video of a recent test flight with the Matrice 210 airdropping one of our sensor robots. 

"Homemade" Robots and Staying Productive During SIP

Just as many companies did when local or state governments ordered residents to shelter in place (SIP), Squishy Robotics had to swiftly pivot to working from home. To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and obey Berkeley's SIP rules, we quickly distributed fabrication equipment from our lab (think 3D printers and soldering irons), prototype versions of tensegrity structures, drones, motors, sensors, and other hardware pieces to employees and interns. We became experts at setting up Zoom meetings and all of us became adept at collaborating online.

At the time of this writing, Squishy Robotics is in Week 10 of working from home. Our company has submitted several proposals about how our robots could—with a little retooling—be used to respond to the pandemic. We are happy to report that we are still growing our startup and productively designing and developing our technology.

Online Presentation for U.S. Army 

Apropos of working from home, Squishy Robotics recently completed and presented its first monthly report to the U.S. Army virtually. As reported in our March newsletter, Squishy Robotics was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant. This work furthers the rapid deployment of sensor payloads via aerial delivery.

"Our development effort will scale up our tensegrity robots to carry a 5- to 50-pound payload," explained Douglas Hutchings, Squishy Robotics' Lead Mechatronics Engineer. "This work is allowing us to experiment with various materials, as well as to develop a design and fabrication pipeline." As Principal Investigator (PI) for this Phase I work, Hutchings is responsible for directing the grant's research, reporting, and administration.

"Another goal is to design what is essentially a self-righting capability for our robots that so that we can ensure a preferred payload orientation after airdropped deployment," Hutchings said. "This is a very beneficial feature for both military and commercial customers, ensuring that cameras and antennas are pointing in useful directions once the robot lands.”

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